Special counsel Robert Hur has concluded his yearlong investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents while he was out of office. Despite finding evidence that Biden “willfully retained” these materials, Hur has stated that he will not be recommending charges against the President. The reason behind this decision, as explained by Hur, is that President Biden is an “elderly man with a poor memory.” This development brings closure to a matter that had cast a shadow over the 2024 presidential election.

“We conclude that no criminal charges are warranted in this matter,” said Hur’s report. “We would conclude the same even if there was no policy against charging a sitting president. Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified information after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.”

Despite this, the special counsel “uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified information after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen,” the report said.

“These materials included (1) marked classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, and (2) notebooks containing Mr. Biden’s handwritten entries about issues of national security and foreign policy implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods.”

The report went on to state:

“In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (“if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?”), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (“in 2009, am I still Vice President?”). He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he “had a real difference” of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama.”

Hur’s office felt that the “evidence does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Hur, notably, held the belief that during the trial, Biden could potentially appear not only as “sympathetic,” but also as forgetful and lacking the necessary intent to be convicted.

“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden 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,” the report said. “It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”

Biden’s legal representatives strongly criticized the special counsel’s portrayal of the president’s memory and recollections following his extensive interview with investigators over a span of two days in October.

“We do not believe that the report’s treatment of President Biden’s memory is accurate or appropriate,” wrote Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, and Bob Bauer, a personal attorney for the president. “In fact, there is ample evidence from your interview that the President did well in answering your questions about years-old events over the course of five hours.”

The attorneys noted that the interviews took place in the midst of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, when Biden was busy “conducting calls with heads of state, Cabinet members, members of Congress, and meeting repeatedly with his national security team.”

“It is hardly fair to concede that the President would be asked about events years in the past, press him to give his ”best” recollections, and then fault him for his limited memory,” they wrote.

During his speech in Virginia on Thursday afternoon, Biden highlighted the distinctions between his situation and Trump’s, emphasizing that the special counsel overseeing his investigation had chosen not to pursue any charges.

“This matter is now closed,” Biden said.