MAGA Republicans have been desperate to draw false equivalencies between President Joe Biden and defendant Donald Trump. Normally, I would discourage my colleagues from running such a fool’s errand but, in this case, I’ll allow it.
Trump appears to be in a state of mental decline. I get it. He has a lot to be stressed about; 88 felony counts and owing the state of New York almost $400 million for a fraud judgment can stress a person. However, Republicans are attempting to paint President Biden as mentally feeble and incapable of fulfilling the duties of the Oval Office. To that end, in his special counsel report on his investigation into President Biden’s possession of classified material after he left the vice presidency, Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney who was appointed by Trump, repeatedly opined on President Biden’s allegedly “poor memory.”
Now that we have the actual transcript of his conversation with President Biden, we know Hur doesn’t even believe the assessment he provided.
Now that we have the actual transcript of his conversation with President Biden, we know Hur doesn’t even believe the assessment he provided.
We learned in Tuesday’s hearing what Hur, perhaps intentionally, left out of his final report. In the transcript, when referencing President Biden’s remarks about the location of various items in his home, Hur states: “We have some photographs maybe to show you, but you have — appear to have a photographic understanding and, and recall of the house.”
One wonders why Hur would spontaneously compliment President Biden about his memory during their interview and yet, in his report, provide gratuitous and unnecessary commentary about the same on a topic irrelevant to his investigation, specifically about the death of one of the president’s children. Hur’s report suggested that President Biden had no sense of when his son Beau Biden died. It’s the kind of anniversary no parent would want to even exist, but the transcript reveals that the president recited the exact date his family experienced that loss.
Tuesday’s Judiciary hearing showcased for Americans how each candidate for president responded to a test of character. Each possessed classified documents. For argument’s sake, let’s set aside whatever intent Trump may have had when he had national security secrets moved to his Mar-a-Lago home. President Biden and Trump had materials in their possession that they shouldn’t have. How did they respond when asked to return them?
President Biden fully cooperated, voluntarily allowed a search of his home and offices and, over a two-day period, voluntarily sat for an interview that lasted a total of more than five hours. Trump did the opposite. He stands accused of instructing others to conceal his possession of the documents and obstruct justice. And he never sat for an interview with investigators.
President Biden’s conduct is a clear consciousness of character. Trump’s conduct is a clear consciousness of guilt. Hur pointed this out in his report and during the hearing. The former special counsel compared President Biden’s conduct after learning of his possession of classified documents to defendant Trump’s. He wrote that “several material distinctions between Mr. Trump’s case and Mr. Biden’s are clear.” In each of those distinctions, the analysis broke in favor of President Biden. What this hearing did make clear is that MAGA Republicans only care about the handling of classified documents and the security of our national secrets when it is politically expedient. When shown photos of highly classified material squirreled away throughout Mar-a-Lago, how did they react? They railed against the FBI and whipped their most extreme supporters into a frenzy that resulted in a man trying to breach the security at an FBI field office and then, after being pursued, shooting at law enforcement officers. Not only is Trump a defendant in four jurisdictions, but also a court has judged him to be a rapist, the legal verdicts against him have added up to more than $440 million, his policies are reckless and out of touch, and his grip on reality is loosening. President Biden put to bed any concerns about his savvy and his cognition when he completely commanded a joint session of Congress — and America’s living rooms — during last week’s State of the Union address. While President Biden is briefing the country on the status of our economy, encouraging Republicans to get on board with their own immigration bill and outlining how democracy is at risk at home and abroad, Trump keeps telling voters that he’s running against Barack Obama. When it comes to our choice in November, I’ll take President Biden’s 81 years to defendant Trump’s 88 felony counts. While I understand why Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Hur — he wanted to appear impartial — we didn’t need a special counsel investigation to help us understand how differently President Biden and defendant Trump fared in this test of character. Tuesday’s hearing was yet another failed attempt by my Republican colleagues to distract us from the real issues we have and the choices we face. It’s time we put people over politics and get back to what matters for those we serve.
Rep. Eric Swalwell
Rep. Eric Swalwell represents California’s 14th congressional district in the House of Representatives. 
