The president believes the special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents went beyond his remit. And part of the blame is being placed on the AG.

Joe Biden has told aides and outside advisers that Attorney General Merrick Garland did not do enough to rein in a special counsel report stating that the president had diminished mental faculties, according to two people close to the president, as White House frustration with the head of the Justice Department grows.

The report from special counsel Robert Hur ultimately cleared Biden of any charges stemming from his handling of classified documents that were found at Biden’s think tank and his home. But Hur’s explanation for not bringing charges — that Biden would have persuaded the jury that he was a forgetful old man — upended the presidential campaign and infuriated the White House.

Biden and his closest advisers believe Hur went well beyond his purview and was gratuitous and misleading in his descriptions, according to those two people, who were granted anonymity to speak freely. And they put part of the blame on Garland, who they say should have demanded edits to Hur’s report, including around the descriptions of Biden’s faltering memory.

  • Nobody@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Biden has always been a gaffe machine. His age has made the problem worse, but it’s always been true. I wish my vote mattered, and that I had a choice to vote for a candidate I actually like.

    That said, if you live in a swing state, show up and vote for Biden. Your vote is one of the few in the country that actually counts on a national level, and staying home is a vote for Trump.

    • Kingofthezyx@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      I remember this being a talking point when he was running against Obama in 2007. It’s not diminished mental faculties to misspeak sometimes. The guy has been a better president than Trump could ever hope to be. It’s bullshit that it’s going to be these two old fucks facing each other again, but it’s the hand we’ve been dealt.

      Vote for Biden and then start laying the groundwork for 2028. Democracy doesn’t happen once every four years.

      • Nobody@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Because of the way the Electoral College works, voters in swing states decide who wins the presidential election. Votes in states where a candidate is going to win by 30 points are meaningless to the presidential race, though they do matter in local and state-level elections.

        For example, in the 2000 election about a thousand votes in Florida decided the entire election, while 88,000 Floridians voted for Ralph Nader instead of Al Gore as a protest vote. Swing state votes are the only ones that really matter.