“A well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”

“Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen,” the report begins. The material included marked classified documents about Afghanistan policy, found in a box in his Wilmington garage, and notebooks of handwritten notes on national security that he kept in unlocked drawers at home and read from to his ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer. [1]

Hur still concluded that “the evidence does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” He gave several reasons: Biden could plausibly have forgotten the Afghanistan papers or not known they were there; he may have thought the notebooks were his own property, as Reagan had; he cooperated and reported the documents himself. Then came the line about how a jury would see him. [1]

He also drew a contrast with Trump: Trump, Hur wrote, had refused to return documents and allegedly obstructed the investigation, while Biden turned his over. Hur told Congress, “I did not sanitize my explanation. Nor did I disparage the President unfairly.” [1][2][3]

Hur wrote that in his October 2023 interview Biden did not remember when his vice presidency ended (“if it was 2013 - when did I stop being Vice President?”) or began, and “did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died.” That night Biden said: “How in the hell dare he raise that,” and, asked about the “elderly man” line, “I am well meaning, and I’m an elderly man, and I know what the hell I’m doing.” In the same press conference he called Egypt’s president the president of Mexico. [1][2]

The interview audio released in May 2025 has long pauses and searches for dates, and also stretches of detailed recall; the full transcript shows both. In July 2026, after a legal battle, CBS published recordings of the 2016–2017 ghostwriter sessions, including Biden saying “Some of this may be classified … So, be careful.” [3][4][5][6]