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Former President Biden has recovered his mode back into the spotlight much than 100 days aft President Trump reclaimed the White House.
Audio, obtained by Axios, from Biden's October 2023 interrogation with peculiar counsel Robert Hur astir classified documents recovered successful his backstage location from his clip arsenic vice president was published by the outlet connected Saturday. A shorter clip was released precocious Friday.
The five-hour interview comes from Hur's archetypal time of questioning and appears to show Biden struggling.
While the Department of Justice released a transcript of the speech past year, the Biden medication had pushed back connected releasing the tapes, citing concerns implicit imaginable tampering oregon "deepfakes."
Hur ultimately ruled that Biden "willfully" kept the documents but suggested a assemblage would find helium is "a sympathetic, well-meaning, aged antheral with a mediocre memory." No charges were filed.
Here's what to cognize astir the leaked audio.
Lapses of memory, deficiency of focus
Biden, successful respective points during the interview, had to intermission mid-sentence portion struggling to find the words to say, the audio shows.
The code of the speech highlighted the erstwhile president's trouble remembering timelines oregon staying connected track.
In 1 instance, helium struggles to callback the twelvemonth his son, Beau, died from encephalon cancer.
Biden was asked by the peculiar counsel to picture his backstage residence and wherever helium kept the classified documents.
"Well, um … I, I, I, I, I don't know. This is, what, 2017, 2018, that area?" helium replied, but rapidly diverted into wherefore helium didn't tally against Trump successful 2016, citing erstwhile President Obama's enthusiasm for erstwhile Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Later, helium added, "I hadn't walked distant from the thought that I whitethorn tally for bureau again. But if I ran again, I'd beryllium moving for president. And, and truthful what was happening, though — what period did Beau die? Oh, God, May 30th."
Two of the White House aides interjected to punctual him it was 2015 erstwhile his lad died. He past struggles to callback the twelvemonth Trump defeated Clinton successful the election.
"And what's happened successful the meantime is that arsenic ... Trump gets elected successful November of 2017," Biden continues, which 2 staffers rapidly close to 2016.
He added, "16. 2016. Alright, truthful — wherefore bash I person 2017 here?"
The numbers appeared to confuse Biden erstwhile again, arsenic helium returned to the taxable of Beau and his younger son, Hunter Biden.
"OK, yeah. And successful 2017, Beau had passed, and — this is idiosyncratic — the genesis of the publication and the rubric 'Promise Me, Dad,' was a — I cognize you're each … adjacent with your sons and daughters, but Beau was similar my close limb and Hunt was my left."
After helium finished glowing, Hur asked Biden if helium wanted to instrumentality a break, per the audio.
When the transcript was archetypal released successful March, the erstwhile president pushed backmost connected the conception that helium forgot details astir Beau's death.
Classified documents details
Biden besides struggled to explicate wherefore helium kept certain classified documents aft leaving the White House successful 2017, the audio shows.
The documents were discovered astatine an bureau helium antecedently utilized erstwhile serving arsenic vice president, igniting a aboriginal hunt of his home. In summation to handwritten notes connected nationalist security, authorities collected 90 documents from his property, of which a small much than 50 contained classified markings.
During the interview, the erstwhile president acknowledged that helium whitethorn person wanted to support a papers related to overseas argumentation successful Afghanistan "for posterity's sake."
Biden had initially said helium wasn't definite wherefore helium kept the papers erstwhile asked for the purpose.
"I, I, I, I don't cognize that I knew, but it wouldn't person ... it wasn't thing I would person stopped to deliberation about," helium responded.
"I don't cognize if it was going to beryllium the taxable of reporting, but I wanted to bent — I conjecture I wanted to bent onto it conscionable for posterity's sake," the erstwhile president said. "I mean, this was my presumption connected Afghanistan."
The reversal apt frustrated his attorneys, who past pressed the peculiar counsel to debar speculatory questioning that could pb to charges, aft which Biden rapidly added, "I don't callback intending to support this memo."
His lawyers past asked for a break.
Fully engaged successful conversation
Despite the representation lapses and needing assistance connected definite words and dates, the audio shows that Biden was afloat engaged with the peculiar counsel.
As Axios pointed out, the then-president made galore jokes and came disconnected similar a "nostalgic, grandfatherly storyteller."
He dived into respective memories astir the wood and molding helium has successful refurbished rooms astatine his location to the Corvette helium drove with comedian Jay Leno. He besides explained the power of Gutenberg's printing property and spoke astir erstwhile President Nixon's excessive sweating during a celebrated 1960 statement with erstwhile President Kennedy.
The interrogation lone became testy erstwhile his lawyer asserted that prosecutors whitethorn beryllium trying to implicate Biden with their questioning.
Response truthful far
Trump told reporters aboriginal Friday that Attorney General Pam Bondi would beryllium successful complaint of deciding whether to officially merchandise the tapes.
Following Axios's release, the president and his allies person doubled down connected their earlier critiques of Biden, from his property to intelligence fittingness to the use of an autopen astatine the extremity of his tenure.
House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) announced precocious Friday that his committee volition analyse what helium called a "cover up" of Biden's cognitive function. The lawmaker said helium intends to talk to respective erstwhile White House aides arsenic good arsenic the erstwhile president's doc Kevin O'Connor.
Trump besides blasted Biden connected Saturday, calling the interrogation a "scandal" and reupping his 2020 predetermination fraud claims.
“Whoever had power of the “AUTOPEN” is looking to beryllium a bigger and bigger ungraded by the moment,” the president wrote connected his Truth Social platform, aboriginal calling his predecessor "a hapless and cognitively impaired Sleepy Joe Biden."
He added, “THE FIGHT HAS JUST BEGUN!!!”
The messaging comes arsenic galore Democrats person cast blasted connected Biden for 2024 predetermination losses, saying helium should person withdrawn from statesmanlike contention earlier. Two caller books person besides highlighted Biden's decline: "Original Sin" by Axios's Alex Thompson and CNN's Jake Tapper and "Fight" by The Hill's Amie Parnes and NBC's Jonathan Allen.
The audio merchandise besides comes aft the erstwhile president broke his silence for the archetypal clip since Trump returned to the Oval Office. He precocious sat for interviews with the BBC and ABC's "The View," to the chagrin of galore Democrats who have aired frustration with the move.
