Committee Chairman Jim Jordan pounded his gavel shortly before 3 p.m. ET, signaling an end to Robert Hur's testimony after nearly five hours at the witness table.

Hur departed the hearing room after withstanding pointed attacks from across the political spectrum: Democrats accused him of including gratuitous language about Biden's mental acuity, while Republicans slammed his decision not to bring criminal charges.

Though Hur at times grew animated as he defended his work, he remained measured and disciplined throughout his testimony.

Former special counsel Robert Hur would not specifically weigh in on whether or not Congress should have access to audio recordings related to his report when pressed by Republican committee Chairman Jim Jordan.

Jordan directly asked Hur: "Is there any reason why you can see why the American people and their representatives in United States Congress should not have access to those tapes?"

But Hur would not say either way, and instead responded by saying that his report did take into account the audio recordings. It was unclear which recordings Hur was referencing; given the way Jordan asked the question, it could have been regarding audio of Biden's interview with Hur or audio of Biden's conversations with his ghostwriter.

"Chairman, what I can tell you is that my assessment that went into my conclusions that I described, my report was based not solely on the transcript, it was based on all of the evidence, including the audio recordings," Hur said.

Jordan then asked Hur again, saying if he thought the audio recordings were "valuable evidence" for his report then "shouldn't the United States Congress have access to that same information?"

"It is not for me to weigh into what information Congress should or should not have" replied Hur, while reiterating that he believed "the audio recordings were part of the evidence, of course, that I considered in coming to my conclusions."

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.

Under questioning from lawmakers, Republicans pressed Hur on how the evidence he gathered failed to indicate criminal behavior, while Democrats pressed him on comparisons between Biden's conduct and Trump's.

Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-ND, began by outlining some of the underlying facts of Hur's investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents -- probing his determination that Biden shouldn't be charged with "willfully retaining national defense information," even as his report outlined evidence of various instances where he said Biden either knew he had classified materials or discussed having it with his ghostwriter.

"Congressman, part and parcel of a prosecutor's judgment as to whether or not a conviction is the probable outcome of trial is assessing how the evidence identified during the investigation lines up with the elements and what proof can be offered to a jury during a trial," Hur said.

"Sure, but this well-meaning elderly old man has nothing to do with the underlying elements of the crime?" Armstrong asked.

"It certainly has something to do with the way that a jury is going to perceive and receive and consider and conclude -- make conclusions based on evidence at trial," Hur responded.

Hur swatted away questions from Rep. Jerry Nadler, the ranking Democrat on the panel, who multiple times looked to have the special counsel comment or compare Biden's handling of documents to Trump's own legal issues.

Hur replied when specifically about allegations against Trump, "I am not intimately familiar with the facts relating to former President Trump."