Illinois governor denounces language of Biden special counsel report: ‘I smell a rat’

by Filip Timotija - 02/09/24 10:36 PM ET

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) scrutinized language in the special counsel’s report, released Thursday, on President Biden’s retention of classified documents — including comments about the president’s age and memory.

“I smell a rat,” Pritzker, one of the top surrogates in Biden’s reelection campaign, said during a press conference Friday.

“It was extremely unfair for a [former President] Trump appointee, originally to the Department of Justice, to offer his own opinions about the mental acuity or age of the president of the United States,” he added.

His defense of Biden comes after DOJ special counsel Robert Hur, who was tasked with investigating classified documents found in Biden’s former vice presidential office and his personal home in Delaware, published a 388-page report that accused him of “willfully” retaining the documents. Hur, however, said because the president cooperated fully with the probe, he would not be charged.

“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Hur wrote in his report, drawing scrutiny from Biden allies, including Pritzker.

The Illinois governor disputed Hur’s observation, touting the president’s wisdom instead.

“I’ve been with the president of the United States many times,” Pritzker said, “He is on the ball. Man knows more than most of us have forgotten.”

Biden also criticized the report for invoking his memory, including alleging he struggled to remember details, including when his late son Beau died.

“How in the hell dare he raise that,” Biden said in remarks from the White House Thursday. “Frankly, when I was asked the question I thought to myself it wasn’t any of their damn business.”

“I don’t need anyone to remind me when he passed away,” he added.

The White House suggested Friday that the pointed sections about Biden’s age and memory represented a political attack.