Comer on Hur report: ‘Surprising’ it would ‘state the obvious in writing’

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) on Sunday swiped at what he called President Biden’s “diminished” mental capacity following the special counsel report last week that painted Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” 

Asked on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” for his reaction to special counsel Robert Hur’s report on Biden’s handling of classified documents, Comer said, “Well, it was pretty surprising that the special counsel would state the obvious in writing, that Joe Biden’s mental capacity is diminished. I think we see that play out on a daily basis.”

Hur’s 388-page report, released last Thursday, determined Biden “willfully” retained classified documents but declined to charge the president with any crime. The report’s most controversial element was a harsh assessment of Biden’s memory and recall, in which Hur claimed the president struggled to remember the year his son Beau died and the years he served as vice president.

Comer, along with House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), is spearheading an impeachment inquiry into Biden amid the House GOP’s probe into Biden’s son, Hunter, and his foreign business dealings, but that effort hasn’t advanced much in recent weeks.

Comer on Sunday said the Oversight Committee is interested in any information from Hur’s report on the classified documents Biden held on to that relate to Ukraine and China.

According to Hur’s report, the FBI discovered documents in a file folder labeled “Ukraine 02/09/15,” which includes documents related to a call between Biden and then-Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Hur said the documents included a note to his executive assistant that wrote, “Get [a] copy of this conversation from Sit Rm for my Records please,” and signed it “Joe.”

Hur, however, concluded there was “insufficient evidence” to charge Biden with retention of these marked classified documents, adding his note to his assistant requests only the transcript of the call itself.

“And no jury could reasonably find that the substance of the call between Mr. Biden and the Ukrainian Prime Minister was national defense information,” Hur wrote.

Authorities also discovered documents “related to engagement” with China in President Obama’s second term, but Hur concluded the evidence does not suggest Biden “willfully retained” them.

Comer on Sunday repeated the claim the Biden family has been involved with influence-peddling “for decades” and said he wants to know if Hur interviewed Hunter Biden and Jim Biden, the president’s brother.