House Republicans are using special counsel Robert Hur’s report on President Joe Biden’s document handling for their political purposes. Hur found that while Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency,” there was not enough evidence to establish his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In the absence of actionable malfeasance on the document handling, Hur focused on Biden’s age as a potential avenue for investigation. Three House committee chairs wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding a transcript and video recordings of Biden’s interview, with a Feb. 19 deadline for a response.
Republicans are planning hearings starring Hur, where they will focus on Biden’s mental acuity, the national security implications of his document handling, and his fitness to lead. They plan to exploit Biden’s age, his biggest political liability with voters, and run with it. They will give Hur a microphone and put him in front of cameras, and the traditional media will eat it up. Additionally, Republicans plan to go after Garland and how the Justice Department conducted the investigation, as revenge for not finding anything implicating Biden and his son Hunter.
House Republican leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, GOP Whip Tom Emmer, and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, released a statement calling Hur’s remarks on Biden’s age some of the most disturbing parts of the report. They argue that a man incapable of being held accountable for mishandling classified information is unfit for the Oval Office. Despite more pressing issues such as a potential government shutdown and leadership problems, they are focused on exploiting Biden’s age for political gain.
The New York Times has compared the Republican focus on Biden’s age to their previous obsession with Hillary Clinton’s emails. Speaker Mike Johnson had a particularly bad day, and his inept leadership has created numerous problems. Trump allies have ridiculed the GOP impeachment inquiry for failing to find dirt on Biden. Despite the potential negative consequences for the American people, House Republicans are determined to continue down this path and exploit any potential weaknesses of the current administration.
