5 Takeaways From Hur’s Testimony About the Biden Classified Documents Inquiry

A former special counsel, Robert K. Hur, faced sharp scrutiny over his conclusion that the evidence was insufficient to charge President Biden with a crime and his disparaging remarks about the president’s memory.

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Robert K. Hur, the special counsel, concluded an investigation into President Biden’s retention of sensitive government documents in February.

Robert K. Hur, the former special counsel who investigated President Biden’s possession of classified documents after he left the vice presidency, testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

Republicans grilled Mr. Hur about his conclusion that the evidence was insufficient to charge Mr. Biden with a crime. Democrats, for their part, attacked him for disparaging remarks in his report about Mr. Biden’s mental acuity — including calling him a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” who had “diminished faculties in advancing age.”

Here are five takeaways:

Hur was attacked by both sides.

Members of both parties were unhappy with aspects of Mr. Hur’s report. Republicans were upset that Mr. Biden was not charged with a crime, repeatedly noting the criminal indictment against former President Donald J. Trump that accuses him of willfully retaining sensitive national security documents. Democrats accused Mr. Hur of smearing Mr. Biden’s mental acuity, saying it violated Justice Department policies.

At times the comments grew harsh.

Representative Hank Johnson, Democrat of Georgia, accused Mr. Hur of deliberately providing fodder to “play into the Republicans’ narrative that the president is unfit for office because he is senile.” That casting was false, he said, pointing to Mr. Biden’s energetic delivery of the State of the Union address.

ImageMembers of both parties were unhappy with aspects of the report by Mr. Hur.Credit…Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

Getting Mr. Hur, a former Trump political appointee, to acknowledge that he is a registered Republican, Mr. Johnson accused him of “doing everything you can do to get President Trump re-elected so that you can get appointed as a federal judge or perhaps to another position in the Department of Justice.”

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