White House lawyers wrote repeatedly to Attorney General Merrick Garland ahead of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report, strongly objecting to Hur’s comments on President Biden’s memory issues, according to a new report.
The report says the previously undisclosed letters complained that Hur violated Justice Department policies by not sticking solely to the topic of Biden’s handling of classified documents. They urged Garland to edit it down to a bare-bones report.
A senior DOJ official responded with a defense of Hur’s report, saying his observations of Biden were “near the apex of the public interest.” The report traces how actively the White House tried to shape the report.
Hur is expected to testify in a public hearing before the House on March 12 on the findings he detailed in the report.