Robert Hur Transcript Reveals New Details About Joe Biden's Memory

A transcript of President Joe Biden's interview with Robert Hur, the special counsel who investigated the president's handling of classified information, has revealed more about the 81-year-old president's memory.

The new details, which were revealed ahead of Hur's Tuesday testimony on Capitol Hill, come a month after Biden fiercely attacked the special counsel for allegedly invoking his late son during the interview. Although it was unclear how Beau Biden came up in conversation, Hur cited an incident in his report where the president did not remember, even within several years, when his son died of brain cancer.

"How in the hell dare he raise that?" Biden said from the White House. "Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself: It wasn't any of their damn business."

"I don't need anyone to remind me when he passed away," the president said.

But the release of the transcript contradicts Biden's account, revealing that Hur never asked Biden about Beau and that it was, in fact, the president who brought up his son's death, according to the Associated Press.

While recalling where he was keeping things he was "actively working on" after he left the vice presidency in January 2017, Biden brought up the book he published later that year about his son's illness and death. But while he got the date correct, it appears he struggled to remember the year.

"Remember, in this timeframe, my son is -- either been deployed or is dying, and, and so it was -- and by the way, there were still a lot of people at the time when I got out of the Senate that were encouraging me to run in this period," Biden responded.

"I hadn't walked away from the idea that I may run for office again. But if I ran again, I'd be running for president," he continued. "And, and so what was happening though -- what month did Beau die? Oh, God, May 30th."

When a White House lawyer chimed in to add the year, Biden asked, "Was it 2015 he died?" before agreeing "It was 2015."

Hur released his damning report about Biden last month. Although he declined to bring criminal charges, Hur painted a picture of a forgetful commander-in-chief who could be seen as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" by a jury.

First Lady Jill Biden also fired back at Hur for allegedly asking her husband about when Beau died. In a fundraising email days after the special counsel report was released, she wrote, "Believe me, like anyone who has lost a child, Beau and his death never leave him. I hope you can imagine how it felt to read that attack—not just as Joe's wife, but as Beau's mother."

Hur will appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, where he is expected to face blowback from both Republicans, who are angry about his decision not to charge Biden, and Democrats, who are unhappy over the unflattering remarks about Biden's age and memory.

Update 3/12/24, 8:56 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.

Update 3/12/24, 9:44 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.