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Former President Donald Trump went on the defensive Tuesday, ahead of former Special Counsel Robert Hur's testimony regarding an investigation into President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents.
"Big day in Congress for the Biden Documents Hoax. He had many times more documents, including classified documents, than I, or any other president, had. He had them all over the place, with ZERO supervision or security. He does NOT come under the Presidential Records Act, I DO," Trump wrote in a post to TruthSocial on Tuesday morning.
"The DOJ gave Biden, and virtually every other person and President, a free pass. Me, I'm still fighting!!! MAGA," Trump's post added.
On Tuesday, Hur will testify in front of the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee to detail his investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents that were found at his home in Delaware and at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C.
Last month, Hur released a report detailing portions of his investigation and interviews he conducted with Biden. Hur determined that the president "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency," but did not recommend charges.
The report from Hur cited Biden's memory and the way he'd present himself to a jury as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," in his reasoning for not recommending charges.
Politico obtained Hur's opening statement ahead of his testimony, which doubled down on his description of Biden's memory.
"My assessment in the report about the relevance of the president's memory was necessary and accurate and fair. Most importantly, what I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe," the opening statement said. "I did not sanitize my explanation. Nor did I disparage the president unfairly."
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.
As Trump noted in his social media post, he is currently facing a legal case for his handling of classified documents that were found at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Special Counsel Jack Smith brought the case against Trump, where he is currently facing more than 40 federal charges.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case and Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case, recently granted the former president a delay, as he has continued to seek.
The Associated Press obtained portions of Biden's transcript from his interview with Hur, where the president said he had "no idea," how classified documents ended up at the Penn Biden Center.
Biden previously criticized the report from Hur and said, "I'm well-meaning and I'm an elderly man, and I know what I'm doing."
"My memory is fine," Biden said last month.
Update, 3/12/24, 9:36 a.m. EST: This story has been updated with further information.
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About the writer
Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more