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

In a notable exchange, Hur took issue with Democrats' characterization that his report cleared President Biden of criminal wrongdoing, testifying that he "did not exonerate him."

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., questioning Hur about his report, stated that the "lengthy, expensive and independent investigation resulted in a complete exoneration of President Joe Biden."

Hur, looking to correct Jayapal's characterization, responded by saying, "I need to go back and make sure that I take note of a word that you use: Exoneration," he said. "That is not a word I used in the report and not part of my task--"

Jayapal then jumped in and began speaking over Hur, as she tried to argue that Hur's report indeed did "exonerate" Biden.

But Hur again pushed back, quickly replying: "I did not exonerate him, that word does not appear in the report."

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., read an excerpt from the press conference that President Biden convened the night Hur's report was made public -- highlighting Biden's claim that he "did not share classified information" with his ghostwriter.

"That's not true, is it, Mr. Hur?" Gaetz asked.

"That is inconsistent with the findings based on the evidence in my report," Hur said.

When Gaetz called it a lie, "as regular people would say," Hur laughed.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., picked up where his fellow Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson left off, accusing Hur of shading his report with his own "personal, prejudicial, subjective opinion of the president when you knew it would be amplified by his political opponent."

"You were not born yesterday," Schiff said. "You understood exactly what you were doing."

A visibly agitated Hur -- taking deep breaths, raising his voice, and attempting to speak over Schiff -- fired back, saying, What you are suggesting is that I shape, sanitize, omit portions of my reasoning and explanations to the attorney general for political reasons--"

"No, I suggest that you not shape your report for political reasons and that's what you did," Schiff shot back.

"That did not happen, Congressman," Hur replied. "That did not happen."

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., lambasted Hur for his references to President Biden's age and memory, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., quickly followed suit, appearing to catch Hur off guard and even flustering him as he defended his handling of his investigation and the language he included in his final report.

"You use your report to trash and smear President Biden because he said and in response to questions over a five-hour interview that he didn't recall how he got the documents, and you knew that that would play into the Republicans' narrative that the President is unfit for office because he's senile," Johnson said.

"Congressman, I reject the suggestion--" Hur attempted to respond before Johnson cut him off. Johnson then asked whether Hur was a member of the Republican Federalist Society, which Hur denied.

Hur did answer affirmatively to whether he was a Republican, which drew applause from one of the Republicans on the committee, Ken Buck.

Johnson then went further, suggesting that Hur wrote his report in order to damage Biden and evoke sympathy from former President Trump so he could secure a high-level appointment in his administration, should Trump be reelected.

"And you're doing everything you can do to get President Trump reelected, so that you can get appointed as a federal judge or perhaps to another position in the Department of Justice. Isn't that correct?" Johnson asked.

"Congressman, I have no such aspirations," Hur replied. "I can assure you and I can tell you that partisan politics had no place whatsoever in my work. It had no place in the investigative steps that I took. It had no place and the decision that I made, and it got no place in a single word of my report."