LEESBURG, Virginia — President Joe Biden defended his handling of classified documents, saying it was nothing like the documents case against former President Donald Trump, during a speech to Democrats in Virginia.
“The special counsel released their findings today about their look into my handling of classified documents,” Biden said. “I was pleased to see they reached a conclusion, and as I believed they would find, there are no charges to be brought in this case.”
Speaking to hundreds of House Democrats at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, the president described it as an “exhaustive investigation” dating back more than 40 years to his time as a U.S. senator and said he cooperated fully.
He then contrasted his behavior with that of Trump.
“I was especially pleased to see the special counsel made clear the stark differences between this case and Donald Trump, as the special counsel wrote, and I quote, ‘several material distinctions between Mr. Trump’s case and Mr. Biden’s are clear,'” Biden said.
Those include Biden’s cooperation, returning documents, and avoiding prosecution, while Trump “allegedly did the opposite” and tried to get others to destroy evidence.
“That’s the distinction, among others,” Biden said to applause from the friendly crowd.
But the president’s critics may focus on other aspects of the report, namely its unflattering portrait of Biden’s mental state.
Special counsel Robert Hur wrote that he did not recommend charges against Biden in part because the president’s memory was “significantly limited.”
Hur found Biden was renting a home in Virginia in February 2017, shortly after he left the vice presidency, when he told the ghostwriter of his memoir that he had “just found all that classified stuff downstairs” in a recorded conversation.
“Mr. Biden’s memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017, and in his interview with our office in 2023,” Hur wrote.
The report also suggested Biden struggled to remember when he became vice president, when he stopped being vice president, and what year his son Beau died, raising fresh questions about his ability to complete his term and serve a potential second one as commander in chief.
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The rest of the president’s speech focused on the economy and his accomplishments as president, along with warnings about the political opposition.
“Time and again, Republicans show they’re a party of chaos and disunion,” Biden said. “This is not your father’s Republican Party.”
