The Justice Department team investigating President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents found evidence that the then-vice president willfully kept some materials due to “strong motivations” to write a book after leaving office.
In testimony given to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, special counsel Robert Hur told lawmakers that although his monthslong investigation did not recommend criminal charges against Biden, there was evidence to suggest the former vice president intentionally retained classified information for personal gain.
“In your report, Joe Biden viewed his notebooks as an irreplaceable, contemporaneous record of the most important moments of his vice presidency,” House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) said. “Pride and money is why he knowingly violated the rules. The oldest motives in the book: pride and money. Do you agree with that?”
“That language does appear in the report, and we did identify evidence supporting those assessments,” Hur replied.
Jordan cited an $8 million book deal that Biden secured shortly before leaving office, which the chairman argued was a leading motivation for the then-vice president to keep classified documents.
Jordan also highlighted Mark Zwonitzer’s role in Hur’s investigation, noting Zwontizer acted as the ghostwriter for Biden’s 2017 book detailing his time in office. Parts of Hur’s report rely on audio recordings obtained from Zwontizer that show Biden telling his co-author about classified materials he had in his possession.
The committee chairman argued Biden’s work with Zwontizer risked “serious damage to America’s national security,” accusing the ghostwriter of trying to destroy evidence once the matter came under investigation.
“Oh, by the way, Mr. Hur, what did that ghostwriter do with the information Joe Biden shared with his laptop?” Jordan asked. “What did he do after you were named special counsel?”
“He slid, if I remember correctly, he slid those files into his recycle bin on his computer,” Hur said.
“To destroy the evidence, didn’t he?” Jordan replied. “When you get named special counsel, what’s that guy do? He destroys the evidence. That’s the key takeaway in my mind.”
The latest development comes as Hur testifies before lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday — just one month after the special counsel released his report on Biden’s handling of classified materials after leaving the White House in 2016. Although the report did not result in charges, it included a scathing assessment of Biden’s mental acuity.
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Hur’s report included examples of the president’s memory lapses during his interview with investigators, which were featured while explaining the rationale for not prosecuting Biden. The report indicated that the president could not remember, “even within several years,” when his son Beau Biden died, among other important dates.
Democrats have tried various ways to defend Biden in the aftermath of the report, challenging Hur’s ability to assess a president’s mental state and questioning his political motivations. Hur sought to defend himself from those accusations during his testimony.