Former Whitewater counsel says Biden lied about classified documents

Thursday, special counsel Robert Hur issued a report detailing President Joe Biden's mismanagement of classified documents, and the facts he included have garnered the attention of legal figures who were involved in past presidential scandals. 

However, Hur stated that no charges would be filed against Biden, citing concerns about the president's failing memory and advanced age, as Fox News reported

Biden was likely severely damaged by Hur's damning report, and former Whitewater Deputy Independent Counsel Sol Wisenberg argued Friday on Fox & Friends that the president "lied" about crucial details that were uncovered.

Background on Report

A report in excess of 300 pages was published by Hur, detailing the findings of his inquiry into the manner in which President Biden managed and possessed classified documents.

The conclusion of the report is that charges should not be filed against the president due to potential difficulties persuading a jury to convict him. However, the Hur included a number of damning details related to Biden's powers of recall and his lack of candor.

Declaring Biden to be a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," Hur did not advise criminal prosecution of the president for mishandling classified documents.

Hur said, "it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him" of a serious felony "that requires a mental state of willfulness," and noted that Biden would be "well into his eighties" by the time any case would make its way to jurors.

Wisenberg's Comments

Reacting to Biden's own response to Hur's report, in which he seemed to suggest he had been vindicated by Hur,  Wisenberg said. "He doesn't need to have a legal strategy when the special prosecutor says we're not going to indict him because his mental capacity is so limited, a jury would be sympathetic to him.

"What I thought was significant about last night, from a legal perspective, is that, unfortunately, the president came out and lied about what special counsel Hur found.

Wisenberg went on to explain some details of the investigation, saying "The special counsel said there is evidence that Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified information when he was a private citizen. Willful is important in this context.

The attorney explained, "Willfully means not only were you deliberately doing it, but you knew it was in violation of the law. Now, the special counsel also said, we don't think a jury would necessarily convict him."

"And one of the big reasons is they would have great sympathy for him because of his mental decline. Those weren't his exact words, but that's in effect what he said," Wisenberg continued.

"So, that's how I view that the president very clearly lied about that and other things last night. But he doesn't need to have a legal strategy, he's gotten a free pass," Wisenberg concluded.