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The release of transcripts and audio from the Joe Biden classified documents case could prove highly damaging to the president, an attorney and former FBI assistant director told Newsweek.
Chris Swecker, now an attorney based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said the new evidence could show cognitive decline in the president and expose political bias in prosecuting former President Donald Trump for hoarding classified documents.
Swecker, who was with the FBI for 24 years, was reacting to a letter sent on Monday by House Republicans seeking testimony from Special Counsel Robert Hur in addition to requests for documents, including transcripts and audio recordings, stemming from Hur's report into the president's handling of classified documents.
In his February 8 report, Hur said Biden could not remember details of classified documents he handled and would likely claim he couldn't remember if put on trial.
Newsweek sought email comment from the White House on Wednesday.
On Monday, the Republican-led House Judiciary, House Oversight and House Ways and Means committees released a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting the transcripts and audio recordings from Hur's investigation, saying they were needed for their impeachment inquiry into Biden.
"I think the release of the transcripts would be damaging to President Biden in two ways," Swecker said. "First, I think it would indeed show a very unflattering picture of the president as someone who is slipping significantly in his cognizance. More importantly I think it reveals how once again the use of prosecution discretion goes only towards the left side of the political spectrum.
"There are eerie similarities to the Hillary Clinton email whitewash and [former FBI Director James] Comey's pronouncement that she was guilty of gross negligence and criminal acts but for some reason no reasonable prosecutor would indict her. Regardless, sunshine is the best disinfectant and these transcripts should come out."
The report by Hur into Biden's handling of classified documents said the president was a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
Critics of the report felt that Hur, a Republican and Trump appointee, made unnecessary politically motivated statements in his report, like when referencing Biden's "poor memory." They also felt that Hur, a worker for the Department of Justice, wasn't qualified to make a medical assessment of the president.
Newsweek sought email comment from Hur on Wednesday.
Separately, Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 federal charges of retaining classified materials and obstructing federal attempts to retrieve them from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination denies all wrongdoing and has repeatedly said that the charges are part of a politically motivated witch hunt to stop him from winning the 2024 election.
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more