Biden kept classified documents to prove he was right and Obama was wrong about Afghanistan, special counsel says
Biden took particular exception to Obama's controversial decision to surge US troops in Afghanistan.
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- Biden kept classified information hoping history would prove Obama wrong, according to Robert Hur.
- Biden took particular exception to Obama's controversial decision to surge US troops in Afghanistan.
- Obama's 2009 decision was closely watched.
Special Counsel Robert Hur concluded that part of the reason President Joe Biden kept classified information after leaving the vice presidency was to prove that President Barack Obama was wrong about surging US troops in Afghanistan in 2009.
"Despite Mr. Biden's advice, President Obama ordered a surge of additional U.S. troops, and Mr. Biden's views endured sharp criticism from others within and outside of the administration. But he always believed history would prove him right," Hur wrote in his nearly 400-page report
According to Hur, Biden kept "a classified handwritten memo he sent President Obama over the 2009 Thanksgiving holiday, and related marked classified documents."
Despite some damning and embarrassing details, Hur concluded that Biden should not be charged even though the president "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency."
Hur wrote in his report that Afghanistan documents are likely the strongest evidence against Biden. Some of the documents were found in Biden's Delaware garage in a box "that contained other materials of great personal significance to him."
The White House and Biden's personal lawyer took strong exception to elements of Hur's report. While not specifically mentioned, Hur repeatedly portrays the president as a confused old man with a declining memory.
"[T]he Special Counsel could not refrain from investigative excess, perhaps unsurprising given the intense pressures of the current political environment," Bob Bauer, Biden's personal lawyer, said in a statement. "Whatever the impact of those pressures on the final Report, it flouts Department regulations and norms."
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