
<p>The Report by Special Counsel Robert Hur stirred two controversies. ; The first raises the question as to why he did not recommend an indictment of Biden for the illegal possession and handling of classified government documents – especially in view of all the condemning details that were revealed. ; The second was the report on Biden’s mental acuity.</p>



<p>Hur has succeeded at making both political camps unhappy. ; Republicans see the lack of prosecution as a double legal standard – especially in view of all the examples of incriminating behavior. ; While Team Biden is happy to be exonerated, they are enraged at the references to Biden’s age and mental acuity.</p>



<p>Hur seemed to see two factors that led him to use his prosecutorial discretion to not pursue an indictment – Trump’s case was worse, and Biden is too old and too compromised to be convicted by a jury. ; The problem is that both of those considerations are secondary to the evidence that Hur laid out against Biden – and essentially ignored. ; The Report looks more like prosecutorial INdescretion. ; Hur appears to have allowed the Trump case and Biden’s mental condition trump the evidence.</p>



<p>While Biden proclaimed his total innocence, he was not a happy camper about the Report. ; He did not like the statements suggesting he “willingly” took and retained the documents – and fibbed about it. ; Two issues that were noted in the indictment of Trump.</p>



<p>Biden especially did not like the references to his mental acuity – or lack thereof. ; In an angry rare press conference, Biden insisted his memory was fine. In what had to be an embarrassment in view of the topic of the press conference, Biden mistakenly referred to the president of Egypt as the president of Mexico – who he said he talked on a frequent basis. ;</p>



<p>Even though the Report took him off the hook, Biden saw it as a political hack job – obviously forgetting that he was being investigated and exonerated by HIS own Department of Justice – by a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. ;</p>



<p>It is important to understand that the observations in the Report were not the opinion of one person. ; In every interview, there were a number of people involved on both sides. ; ; Hur did not reveal anything that was not observed by others – and reported in transcripts and likely recordings.</p>



<p>There are reports that the White House is considering the release of transcripts. ; They did not mention recordings. ; Transcripts will not capture senior moments, memory pauses, etc. ; If there was not a problem, the White House would demand the release of the tapes.</p>



<p>What is so damning about the Report is that it reveals Biden in an uncontrolled and unscripted situation. ; And the examples were not some minor incidents that are commonly forgotten. ; The report read that “He did not remember when he was Vice President.” ; He also “did not remember, within several years, when his son Beau died.” ; Those lapses are more indicative of senior moments.</p>



<p>Hur had to provide specifics on Biden’s age and mental acuity since that was one of the major considerations for not recommending an indictment. ; He was concerned that he would not get a conviction because a jury would be sympathetic to “an elderly man with a poor memory.” ; By most prosecutorial standards, that is not a reason to reject prosecution, but it is the one Hur used and is obligated to explain.</p>



<p>The Biden defense team has gone into action with the most hyperbolic counter arguments. They claim that Biden was under stress when interviewed because of a crisis in the Middle East. That may not be the best excuse. It could be seen as an admission that Biden cannot handle the stresses of the presidency – in which multiple crises are common. </p>



<p>Vice President Harris has been on virtually every news outlet, Democrat Congressman Dan Goldman on CNN, Democrat operative Adrienne Elrod on MSNBC and others took to the airwaves to offer extreme, and incredible, counter arguments. They were contending that Biden has amazing energy and an extraordinarily good memory. They spun Biden’s cranky old man performance as an indication of vitality.</p>



<p>Since the pitch by Harris, Goldman and Elrod is so out of line with what the public sees and believes, it is unlikely they will be effective in convincing that 70 percent of the public who say that Biden is too old and too impaired to serve another four years as President.</p>



<p>Both Goldman and Elrod assured the audience that once we see Biden out in public interacting with the voters, we will see a man fully able to carry out the responsibilities of the presidency. ; There is only one big problem. ; The people are never going to see Biden out among the people, pressing the flesh and offering impromptu comments. ; He will be restricted to a few insulated and carefully scripted events, with very few questions from the people or the press. ; That was the strategy during the Covid Pandemic – and even more so since Covid no longer provides an excuse. ; At this time in his presidency, President Obama held more than 300 press conferences. ; Biden has held 80.</p>



<p>Biden’s problem is that all the political cheerleading from the sidelines is not going to influence the already formed opinions of voters based on what they observe. ; The Hur Report will heighten those concerns.</p>



<p><em>Footnote: Hur’s reference to Biden’s failing to recall when he served as Vice President brought back one of my occasional dinner conversations with former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger – a close personal friend of President Reagan. ; Weinberger was passing through Chicago after what turned out to be his last visit with Reagan. ; When I inquired how the former President was doing, Weinberger leaned forward and said, “He has no recollection of ever having been President.” ; Mental decline is a sad reality.</em></p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Documents report reveals Biden’s mental condition
