US President Joe Biden slams document handling investigation, fires back at claims his memory is getting worse

US President Joe Biden has slammed claims he is too old for the job after an investigation into the mishandling of classified documents referred to the 81-year-old as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”.

Mr Biden’s fiery comments came after it was revealed Special Counsel Robert Hur opted against bringing criminal charges following a 15-month investigation because Biden co-operated and would likely be difficult to convict.

The investigation relates to Mr Biden taking a handwritten memo to then-president Barack Obama in 2009 opposing a planned troop surge in Afghanistan, and handwritten notes related to intelligence briefings and national security meetings.

Hur’s report found that Biden read aloud classified notebook passages to his ghostwriter on at least three occasions recounting meetings in the White House Situation Room, and that sensitive documents were stored at his home.

The President became emotional during the address when he attacked Mr Hur’s comments that questioned the memory of his son Beau’s death.

“How the hell dare he raise that?” he said.

“I don’t need anyone to remind me when he passed away.”

Mr Biden slammed what he said were inaccurate headlines around the investigation report.

“I’ve seen the headlines about my ‘wilful retention of documents’,” he said.

“These headlines are not only misleading, they’re just plain wrong.”

Mr Hur’s report said Mr Biden would not face criminal charges because he “would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”.

When a reporter asked him if his memory was getting worse, Mr Biden said he was in fact a “well-meaning, elderly man” but his memory was fine.

“My memory is so bad I let you speak,” he quipped at the reporter before saying he would continue to do what he had always focused on — his job as president.

“I did not share classified information. I did not break the law. Period,” he said, before conceding he wished he had done some things differently in relation to the documents found at his house.

“I take responsibility for not having seen exactly what my staff was doing,” he said.

“I wish I had paid more attention to how the documents were being moved and where.”

Mr Hur’s investigation ensures that Mr Biden, unlike his expected 2024 presidential rival Donald Trump, will not risk prison time for mishandling sensitive government documents.

Mr Trump faces a 40-count Federal indictment for retaining highly sensitive national security documents at his Florida resort after leaving office in 2021 and obstructing US Government efforts to retrieve them.

While the two cases have similarities, there are also some notable differences.

The White House said Mr Biden’s lawyers found a small number of classified documents and turned them over after discovery.

Mr Trump resisted doing so until a 2022 FBI search turned up about 100 classified documents, leading to obstruction of justice charges against him and two employees at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Mr Hur was appointed in January 2023 to oversee the investigation.

His investigators interviewed Mr Biden in October as part of his probe.

Mr Hur’s decision not to bring criminal charges is likely to fuel accusations of a double standard from Mr Trump and his allies.

Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty and accused prosecutors of political motivations. A trial is scheduled for May but is likely to be delayed

— With Reuters