If you read the transcript of special counsel Robert Hur’s October 8-9, 2023, interview with then President Joe Biden, it becomes clear why Hur did not want to proceed further into Biden’s misuse of classified documents.
It was not just that jurors would be sympathetic to Biden as a nice old man with a bad memory.
It’s because the interview revealed Biden to be a total incompetent. No patriotic American—and there is no doubt about Hur’s patriotism—would want a sitting president in that condition on display before the world.
Many have noted that Biden couldn’t remember such basic facts as when his son died. The interview shows he couldn’t remember a lot of other things either—such as the years he was vice president or when Donald Trump was first elected. He also was uncertain about the name of the Secretary of Defense who served with him in the Obama administration. And, naturally, he forgot a lot of things germane to whether he mishandled sensitive documents.
All that is concerning in a president of the United States. Still, it is common for the elderly to forget specific dates and past events. It is not necessarily a sign of dementia.
Unfortunately, the Hur interview revealed more than forgetfulness. It displayed a man who was unfit for any job of any kind.
Most of us have had family members or friends suffering from dementia. We recognize the signs.
There is, first, that tell-tale vacant look in the eyes. The one we’ve all seen on Joe Biden.
Then there is the loss of the sense of what is appropriate. Biden’s conduct during the interview repeatedly displayed that loss. As a lawyer, he must have known at one time that witnesses always should wait to the end of a question before responding, and they should never answer questions not asked. Biden violated those rules repeatedly.
At one time, Biden must have known that gratuitous profanity is nearly always inappropriate in legal testimony—and shocking in a president of the United States. After all, Biden had heard the universal gasp when Richard Nixon’s White House tapes disclosed the president’s private profanity.
Yet in this interview, Biden’s profanity was both gratuitous and continual: I counted at least 24 instances, and there might have been more.
But the worst part was how he moved in and out of la-la land—particularly during the first day. He repeatedly spoke about events that had nothing to do with the proceedings.
For example, at one point Hur asked Biden where certain documents may have been located within the Naval Observatory Building. For the next 11 minutes, Biden wandered through the following topics:
* His role in passing the Violence Against Women Act;
* The importance of agriculture in Delaware;
* An award he won in law school;
* An event in his law school torts class;
* His first job as a lawyer;
* The difficulty of the Delaware bar exam;
* A young man’s gruesome injuries;
* Delaware’s law of contributory negligence;
* “The only time I ever lied;”
* Efforts to reform the Delaware Democratic Party;
* Opening his own law office; and
* His election to city council.
At another point, Hur asked Biden how long he anticipated living in a particular residence. Biden never answered the question. Instead, he alluded to—
* Issues pertaining to the Biden Center at the University of Pennsylvania;
* Other universities’ purported interest in the Biden Center;
* His wife’s talk at the Truman Library;
* His desire to play an international role similar to that of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair;
* His interest in writing a book;
* The influence of “the Israeli thing” on the “Indo-Pacific;”
* Building a transcontinental railroad over the “country” of Africa; and
* A solar facility in Angola.
He would have gone on further if Hur had not apologetically interrupted.
Those familiar with dementia know that sufferers can have better days and worse days. Biden’s second day was significantly better than his first. I was reminded of his last State of the Union message, where he appeared to be pumped up on drugs. Perhaps after the disastrous first day of testimony, someone gave him a stimulant. Or maybe it was just a talking-to. Or maybe it was just one of those capricious things about dementia.
In any event, during the second day, there was less profanity and the answers became shorter and more to the point. Yet even then, he sometimes rambled into irrelevancy.
The transcript of the Hur interview shows beyond doubt that anyone who worked with Biden knew he was mentally unfit for the presidency. Which strengthens my earlier point about the magnitude of the betrayal by the cabal around him. Or, as Van Jones called it, the “crime against this republic.”
Robert G. Natelson, a former constitutional law professor who is senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver, authored “The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant” (3rd ed., 2015). He is a contributor to the Heritage Foundation’s “Heritage Guide to the Constitution.”