The audio of ex-president Joe Biden’s bombshell interview in which he struggles to recall his son Beau’s death during a 2023 probe has been leaked.
In a report by special counsel Robert Hur, it was stated that Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials” but no criminal charges were pursued against him.
The investigation highlighted that the former president was “unable to recall significant life events,” including the periods he served as Vice President and the year his son Beau passed away.
Addressing why no charges were filed, Mr. Hur indicated: “In court, Mr. Biden would likely be perceived by a jury as a compassionate, well-intentioned elderly person with lapses in memory.”
While the transcripts of the interview with Hur became public last year, now the first audio recording of the bombshell interview has surfaced.
The ex-president sat and spoke with Hur for five hours over two days in the fall of 2023 as part of the special counsel’s probe.
In one clip published by Axios, Biden was asked where he kept papers on matters he was “actively working” on after he left office as vice president to Barack Obama in 2017.
He takes a long pause before saying: “I don’t know”.
And at another point, Biden is even heard asking: “Am I making any sense to you?”
The Democrat also struggled to remember when his eldest son Beau died, and looked for confirmation from those sat in on the interview.
Biden asked: “What month did Beau die? Oh, God, May 30th.”
Two people in the room then finish his sentence, confirming “2015”.
Biden then questioned: “Was it 2015 he had died?”
The ex-president then proceeds to talk about unrelated things that occurred during that time period, like those around him encouraging him to run for president in 2016.
Biden is heard saying: “Remember, in this time frame, my son is… uh… would’ve been deployed or is dying and so… it was… and by the way there were still a lot of people at the time, when I got out of the Senate, that were encouraging me to run in this period – except the president.”
In another bombshell clip from Axios, upon being asked whether he knew he’d kept a memo related to Afghanistan, Biden first responded: “I don’t know that I knew.”
But when pressed more, he said: “I guess I wanted to hang onto it just for posterity’s sake.”
Straight after, one person from Biden’s team interjected and tried to clarify the ex-president’s answer.
They said: “I just really would like to avoid for the purpose of a clean record, getting into speculative areas.
“His recollection, as I understand it, is he does not recall specifically intending to keep this memo after he left the vice presidency.”
Timeline of Biden’s failed re-election bid
President Joe Biden endured weeks of calls to step aside before he announced on July 21 that he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. Here are key developments leading up to his decision.
June 27: Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump sparks calls for him to step aside. His voice was raspy and he trailed off several times after having already endured questions about his age and mental capacity following a series of blunders at public events.
July 2: Polls after the debate indicate that Trump is pulling ahead. Texas Representative Lloyd Doggett was the first Democratic congressman to publicly urge Biden to drop his bid for re-election, and big Democratic donors issued the same call a day later.
July 5: Biden does a live TV interview with George Stephanopoulos where he tries to quell fears about his age and debate performance. He called the debate “bad night” and said he was under the weather and “exhausted.”
July 10: Vermont Senator Peter Welch becomes the first senator to call for Biden to drop out.
July 11: Biden refers to Ukrainian President Zelensky as President Putin at a NATO event.
July 13: Trump is shot at a campaign rally by a wannabe assassin. His popularity and favorability rating soared after he was seen bloodied on stage but walked off with a fist in the air, telling the crowd to “fight!”
July 17: California Representative Adam Schiff and a series of other Democrats call for Biden to step aside. Even former President Barack Obama tells allies that Biden’s path to victory has “greatly diminished.” Biden tests positive for Covid-19 hours after saying he would consider ending his bid if he were diagnosed with “some medical issue.”
July 19: Biden insists he will continue campaigning in his first statement since Obama’s U-turn, despite reports that he would decide to drop out by the weekend.
July 21: Just before 2 pm, Biden announces he is stepping aside in the 2024 election and endorses Vice President Kamala Harris.
Despite Hur declining to bring charges against Biden, in a final report he said how keeping the documents on foreign policy still presented “serious risks to national security”.
Biden and his team slammed Hur’s characterization of the former president as inaccurate and unfair.
The ex-president defended himself at the time, insisting: “My memory is fine.”
A bombshell new book alleges the White House covered up Biden’s condition, which at one point last year was said to be so severe that aides even discussed putting him into a wheelchair.
In the book called Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, it’s claimed that Biden was even unable to recognise Hollywood legend George Clooney or remember the names of key aides.
Trump halts Biden’s access to classified information
In February, Trump told Joe Biden “YOU’RE FIRED” after halting his access to daily intelligence briefings as revenge for the ex-president doing the same to him four years prior.
Trump slammed the Democrat on his Truth Social platform, saying there was “no need” for him to “continue receiving access to classified information”.
The Republican already revoked the security clearance of over four dozen former intelligence officials whom he accused of fiddling with the 2020 election which he branded the “greatest fraud in US history”,
He posted on Friday evening that the Democrat “set this precedent in 2021, when he instructed the Intelligence Community (IC) to stop the 45th President of the United States (ME!) from accessing details on National Security, a courtesy provided to former Presidents.”
Biden barred Trump from receiving intelligence briefings that are usually given to former presidents, justifying his actions by claiming Trump’s behavior before the Capital attack was concerning.
The precedent set by the Democrat means Trump can too stop his predecessor’s access to daily intelligence briefings.
But Trump also says he wants to revoke Biden’s security clearance.
The Republican added that he “could not be trusted with sensitive information,” pointing to a justice department inquiry into Biden’s storage of classified files from his time as Barack Obama’s vice-president.
