Biden docs hearing: Hur defends not charging president, but says he wasn't exonerated

Former President Donald Trump is again making claims about President Biden's handling of classified documents while defending his own handling of classified materials. On his social media platform, Trump claimed Biden had "more documents, including classified documents" that were left unsupervised, again saying Biden wasn't covered under the Presidential Records Act.

Trump, however, was found to have roughly 340 documents with classification markings at his Mar-a-Lago estate, while President Biden had 88 documents with classification markings in his home.

Trump also said that the documents he had were secure compared to the Biden documents that Trump said had "ZERO supervision or security." But special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the Trump classified documents probe, has noted in public court filings that "Whatever risks are posed by storing documents in a private garage ... are dwarfed by the risks of storing documents at 'an active social club' with 'hundreds of members" and 'more than 150 full-time, part-time, and temporary employees,' which, between January 2021 and August 2022, 'hosted more than 150 social events ... that together drew tens of thousands of guests.'"

Hur himself said in his report that, "Most notably, after being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Mr. Trump allegedly did the opposite. According to the indictment, he not only refused to return the documents for many months, but he also obstructed justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then to lie about it."

"In contrast, Mr. Biden turned in classified documents to the National Archives and the Department of Justice, consented to the search of multiple locations including his homes, sat for a voluntary interview. and in other ways cooperated with the investigation," Hur's report said.

Former special counsel Robert Hur has arrived at the hearing and is seated in front of the House Judiciary Committee.

There are a handful of protesters in the hearing with what appears to be fake blood on their hands.

One is wearing a shirt that reads, "Congress funds Israel genocide."

In his opening statement to Congress, former special counsel Robert Hur plans to explain how he characterized Joe Biden's memory in his report on the president's handling of classified documents released in February, which found that no charges were warranted because the evidence wasn't sufficient to support a conviction.

According to his opening statement obtained by ABC News, Hur will address his criticism of Biden's memory in the report: "I understood that my explanation about this case had to include rigorous, detailed, and thorough analysis. In other words, I needed to show my work."

Hur, who will testify before the House Judiciary Committee, plans to say, "I knew that for my decision to be credible, I could not simply announce that I recommended no criminal charges and leave it at that. I needed to explain why."

Hur will argue that the purpose of his investigation was to determine whether or not Biden "willfully" retained or disclosed classified information and that he "could not make that determination without assessing the President's state of mind."

A transcript of President Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur, released to lawmakers prior to Hur's testimony and obtained by ABC News, contradicts the president's characterization of an exchange about the death of his son, Beau Biden, from brain cancer.

"There's even a reference that I don't remember when my son died," a visibly irate Biden told reporters hours after special counsel Robert Hur's report was made public last month. "How in the hell dare he raise that? Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself: It wasn't any of their damn business."

But according to an ABC News review of the transcript, it was Biden, not Hur, who first invoked his son's death -- and the president indeed struggled to recall the exact year it occurred.

"And so I hadn't, I hadn't at this point ... I hadn't walked away from the idea that I may run for office again," Biden said during a line of questioning about his activities after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. "But if I ran again, I'd be running for president," he said, per the transcript. "And, and so what was happening though -- what month did Beau die? Oh, God, May 30th--"

After two others present reminded him that Beau passed away in 2015, Biden said: "Was it 2015 he had died?"

"It was May of 2015," another person said, according to the transcript.

The incident is cited by Hur, who characterized Biden in his 388-page report as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" -- a description that Biden and his legal team sharply criticized in the aftermath of the report's publication.

While the transcript showed moments of memory lapses on Biden's part, his testimony also included detailed descriptions of events that happened many years prior, including policy debates and his own foreign travel.

-ABC News' Mary Bruce and Benjamin Siegel