A special counsel concluded Thursday that Joe Biden should not face criminal charges for retaining classified documents, but painted a damaging portrait of the US president as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.

The report removed a legal cloud hanging over Biden as he seeks reelection in a contest expected to be against Donald Trump -- who is facing a criminal trial for removing large amounts of secret documents after he lost the White House, then refusing to cooperate with investigators.

However, in a shock for the Biden campaign, special counsel Robert Hur said that his probe had found a president with such reduced mental capacities that he could not remember the dates even of his vice presidency under Barack Obama and the death of his son Beau to cancer in 2015.

A Trump spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, reacted by posting on X: "How are we supposed to trust his ability to lead our country if his memory has 'significant limitations' ?!?!"

The White House said Thursday it was "pleased" by the decision not to file charges against Biden, 81. However, it added that "we disagree with a number of inaccurate and inappropriate comments in the special counsel's report."

Hur was appointed by Biden's attorney general, Merrick Garland, last year after classified material was found at Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, and in a former office.

The 388-page report said Biden had "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials" in the period after he left the vice presidency -- well before he defeated Trump in 2020 to become president.

Hur -- previously nominated by Trump to be the lead prosecutor for the state of Maryland -- said documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other matters were recovered by FBI agents.

However, "We conclude the evidence is not sufficient to convict, and we decline to recommend prosecution of Mr Biden for his retention of the classified Afghanistan documents," Hur said.

Hur then said he did not think a jury would want to convict Biden, who came across to investigators as a "sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory."

"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," the special counsel said.

Hur noted clear differences in the Biden and Trump classified documents scandals -- in particular that "after being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Mr Trump allegedly did the opposite."

"According to the indictment, he not only refused to return the documents for many months, but he also obstructed justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then to lie about it.

"In contrast, Mr Biden turned in classified documents to the National Archives and the Department of Justice, consented to the search of multiple locations including his homes, sat for a voluntary interview. and in other ways cooperated with the investigation."

Trump, 77, pleaded not guilty in June to multiple charges of unlawfully retaining national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.

Trump was indicted by another special counsel, Jack Smith, and accused of endangering national security by holding on to top secret nuclear and defense information after leaving the White House.

Trump kept the files -- which included records from the Pentagon, CIA and National Security Agency -- unsecured at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and thwarted official efforts to retrieve them, according to the indictment.

He is scheduled to go on trial in Florida in May.

Arobaga:
Bidden better pass Tinubu when in all ramifications of life

Na only for cocaine Tinubu win am

Chukwuka319:

Amen! Many Nigerians are afflicted with slave mentality syndrome, always badmouthing their fatherland and such people abound on this forum.

bassdow:
u

Arobaga:
Bidden better pass Tinubu when in all ramifications of life





Na only for cocaine Tinubu win am

post=128365053:

See dis one supporting nonsense cause of senseless hatred for our darling country.
See him capping rubbish all in the name of wokeness.
Una go dey alrite Las Las.
Na dere una dey so 👅 😛



Addendum :
MAY NIGERIA FAVOUR THOSE who BELIEVE IN and pray for HER.

God1000:
Why taking government classified documents away.

Both Mr Biden and Donald trump are too old, the likes of Nicki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Kamala Harris are more physically and mentally fit than them.

Mr trump with several legal battles and a possibility of going to prison is still enjoying overwhelming support from the republicans, the man has hijacked the republican party.

Mr Biden should support Kamala Harris and step aside as well.

ogbonti:

Crazy democrats and their swamp agents

But if that was Donald Trump- he must be the devil and must go to jail

You see the double standards ?

This is why I pity Nigerians who support the democrat party as very ignorant people

Donald Trump is so mad about this selective justice..........rightly so

That is selective justice. Why can't they use the same amnesia and being too old argument to prevent him from running?

AntiChristian:
Even Biden better pass your Dad!

We don't cherish anything ours!
Why do we keep seeking nonsense validation from the whites?

You travel there you become a third class citizen and serve them!
They come here as expatriate they still retain their first class title!

AntiChristian:
Even Biden better pass your Dad!

We don't cherish anything ours!
Why do we keep seeking nonsense validation from the whites?

You travel there you become a third class citizen and serve them!
They come here as expatriate they still retain their first class title!

post=128365053:

See dis one supporting nonsense cause of senseless hatred for our darling country.
See him capping rubbish all in the name of wokeness.
Una go dey alrite Las Las.
Na dere una dey so 👅 😛



Addendum :
MAY NIGERIA FAVOUR THOSE who BELIEVE IN and pray for HER.

God1000:
Why taking government classified documents away.

Both Mr Biden and Donald trump are too old, the likes of Nicki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Kamala Harris are more physically and mentally fit than them.

Mr trump with several legal battles and a possibility of going to prison is still enjoying overwhelming support from the republicans, the man has hijacked the republican party.

Mr Biden should support Kamala Harris and step aside as well.