The presidential interview the American public needs to hear isn't with George Stephanopoulos. It's with Robert Hur.
Last Monday, the House Judiciary Committee sued Attorney General Merrick Garland. Republicans want him to release audio of the interview President Joe Biden conducted last October with Hur, the special counsel who investigated the president for mishandling classified documents.
In his report, Hur found that Biden "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials" when he shouldn't have. He declined to bring charges, however, based in part on Biden's mental fitness.
"At a trial, 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," Hur's report read.
The report included specific examples from Biden's interview with investigators. Hur noted the president didn't remember when his term as vice president ended or when "within several years" that "his son Beau died."
For his observations, Hur received withering criticism.
"How in the hell dare he raise that," Biden said, referencing his son's death. "Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself it wasn't any of their damn business." The president also told reporters, "My memory's fine."
Vice President Kamala Harris called Hur's comments "gratuitous, inaccurate and inappropriate," adding, "The way that the president's demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts, and clearly politically motivated."
If any of this were true, the White House would have rushed to make audio of the interview public. Instead, Garland cited executive privilege and stonewalled efforts by House Republicans to hear the evidence for themselves. Biden's defenders also claimed that releasing the audio could lead to the president's political opponents creating "deep fake" videos to harm his campaign.
The issue had receded into the background of the campaign. And then came the president's debate debacle, in which his infirmities were on full display. It's now abundantly clear why the Justice Department and the Biden White House have no interest in allowing the public to hear the Hur interview.
House Republicans aren't giving up. Last month, they voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress. Now, they've gone to the courts.
"President Biden's self-serving attempt to shield the audio recording of his interview with the special counsel while publicly releasing a transcript of that same interview represents an astonishing effort to expand the scope of executive privilege," the lawsuit said.
Hiding politically damaging information isn't a valid reason to exert executive privilege. Biden had previously acknowledged that the interview wasn't privileged and his conversations with Hur had little to do with his duties as president. The claim is bogus, and the courts should rule as such.
As American voters grapple with the obvious reality that Biden would have great difficulty performing his duties for another four years, they deserve honesty and transparency from the White House.
The deceptions must stop. Release the tapes.
(COMMENT, BELOW)
Previously:
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• 'Most predictable crisis' in history continuing as predicted
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Don't feed the pander-bear
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'Grading for equity' leads to less learning
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Report again highlights need for entitlement reform
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Wage law is good news for . .. the robots
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Joe Biden should commit to presidential debates
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Biden tax plan would pummel average Americans
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Iran's brazen attack on Israel was 'utterly unsuccessful'
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More free stuff
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Biden proposes another massive spending spree
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Dems increasingly desperate over No Labels
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Biden hams it up during stemwinder
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Economies roar in red states
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To establish 'absolute tyranny over these States'
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Biden condemns himself in attack on shrinkflation
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If only Taylor Swift were dating the national debt
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Biden bows to Putin, environmentalists
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Defenders of 'democracy' want Voter ID off ballot
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'No one is safe if they had any hand in' Oct. 7
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Biden infrastructure bill: A failure to launch
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US government revenues hit record highs
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Why Biden can't convince voters he's beat inflation
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Why Biden can't convince voters he's beat inflation
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Biden needs to stop the mixed messages
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The hating class as brave defenders
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Blinken only emboldens Hamas terrorists
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White House green Slush fund throwing around cash
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Biden immigration policies souring even Dems
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Dems fret as the bad news mounts for Biden
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Billions in coronavirus money still sitting around
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Senate delegation reassures Israel; where's the House?
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Senate delegation reassures Israel; where's the House?
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Chicago takes victim blaming to an absurd new low
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The utter failure of money to improve education
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Group identity drives American division
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The downside of Biden's drug price control scheme
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WARNING: Here's why top insurers are fleeing
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'They even laughed in my face'
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Red states power Biden's economy
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'If you have private insurance, you can' … OOPS!
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Ignoring the Bill of Rights when its convenient
•
Hunter cops a plea --- but the Biden probes continue
• Will we every truly know the depth of pandemic fraud?
• Hello there, Big Brother! Please, come right in
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• IRS wants to branch out
• Gas stove ban conspiracy theory comes true
• Biden's busy bureaucrats beef up regulatory state
• Don't even dare think of emulamating New Yawk!
• Where have all the nation's college students gone?
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• Joe Biden and Monty Python is no comedy
• Global warming was supposed to wreak havoc on polar bears. Looks like someone forgot to tell the polar bears