Is it possible Hur got played by Biden a little?

[Shermann]

I'll say up front that Biden has continued the long-standing tradition of openness and honesty by Democratic presidents. He has cooperated fully with the special counsel on the documents case which is in stark contrast with the obstructionism by Trump. That said, some of the events in question are almost two decades old and there are attorneys involved. While I don't suspect Sauber would instruct Biden to lie under oath, he may have cautioned Biden against refreshing his memory on certain events given that there was in fact some low-level impropriety. "I don't recall" is, after all, the perfect legal defense. Why should Biden have to go above and beyond and fill in all the details crystal clearly in a case against him, knowing there may be a hit piece report at the end? Maybe he played up the "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" thing just a little on advice of counsel.

Hur's characterization of Biden seems diverged from reality. This is mostly conjecture, but I think he got easily outmaneuvered.

[Drum]

1. I cannot imagine the Biden/Hur interviews occurring without significant prep on Joe's part...

Perhaps with Dark Brandon

[Shermann]

7. Exactly. Bill Clinton could be savvy when necessary and still be a good guy.

There was no need to go full Reagan-recollection mode here.

[lapfog_1]

18. clinton was very smart... a little too smart

during his deposition in the Monica Lewinsky affair, the repuke lawyers GAVE him a definition of "having sex" which, conveniently excluded the actual activity that he and miss Lewinsky actually participated in. So of course he denied "having sex" with her. Later he went one step further by including "that woman" ( implying that he didn't know her ) in public statements. The lawyers KNEW that they had a dress with Clinton's DNA on it and they knew how it got there when they tricked him into stating for record that he didn't have sex ( per the definition provided ).

And that almost ended his presidency.

What he should have said in public after the deposition was " Miss Lewinsky and I knew each other, she came to work in the White House as an intern, we had some interactions which are private in nature and I will not speak of them but we did not engage in sexual relations as defined by the republican lawyers that took my deposition on this matter". And that would have possibly been the end of it. Almost every President in modern era has had affairs... FDR, Eisenhower, JFK, possibly LBJ, even Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, and Trump. and I am possibly missing a few others ( Nixon, Ford, Shrub - maybe they did, maybe they didn't ). Thing was, back then, the press had an unwritten rule about the President's personal life.

[Mz Pip]

2. No

I can’t imagine Biden wants this negative publicity.

[Shermann]

13. It seems like both sides agree that Biden's memory failed during the interviews.

I don't see the "Dark Brandon" alternative explanation as being negative, relatively speaking.

[Voltaire2]

3. It's a disaster that played right into the

3 year ‘Biden’s got dementia’ propaganda from the fascists. So I don’t see quite how anyone other than Biden and Garland got ‘played’ .

[liberal N proud]

5. Exactly

This is a distraction no candidate wants, but if you are already fighting a narrative from your insane opponent.

[agingdem]

10. agree but I do think Biden knew this was coming

given the nature of the "questions" and the attitude of the guy asking the questions...and the reason I think he knew this was about to land is because of the instant pushback...exposing Hur's right wing bonafides, and Biden's press conference a few hours of the report's release...

[ProfessorGAC]

4. In Depositions...

...I have legitimately used "I don't remember" as an appropriate response.
I was never accused of suffering mental decline.
Hur is extrapolating to what he wants to be the case.
But no, I don't think it was planned to "play" Hur.

[Hekate]

6. No

[hlthe2b]

8. If there is one aspect of Hur's inappropriate commentary that will be most likely to backfire, (IMO)...

he suggests that Pres. Biden could not remember the date and details of Beau Biden's death. Of course, DU is populated with those most likely to be sensitive to attacks on Biden, but I've only seen one poster here suggest that that single detail was not horrendous (best to ignore that poster, I'll just say) and from what I've seen on other news sites commentary, that seems to be extensively the majority viewpoint.

Most of us have or will experience both acute and chronic effects of grief and know full well that that was inappropriate to focus on and any specific memory details can be clouded within that grief--even for years to come. That hardly means you don't remember the experience.

Hur is an unconscionably immoral man to have done that--not simply because he willfully violated the rules of DOJ and specific requirements of the SC statute--but because he did so fully knowing how inhumane it was to do so. Garland failed to supervise him or intervene in this regard, but I can only hope the laws of Karma ultimately WILL.

[LeftInTX]

11. Hur has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

He's an attorney. If Trump wins, he will get another appointment.
If Biden wins, Hur will write books and get a gig on Fox.

Look at Ken Starr.

[LeftInTX]

9. Absolutely not.

He currently works in a law firm. If Trump wins, he will get another appointment from Trump. Heck, Trump will appoint him for life in the supreme court.

If Biden wins, he will stay at his law firm. But now he's a celebrity too, so he will likely write a book and get a gig on Fox if Biden wins.

Hur has got nothing to lose at all and everything to win.

[Think. Again.]

15. Unless credibility ever becomes a thing again.

[Think. Again.]

12. I think it's more likely that...

...hur intentionally abused his position to create a cheap hit-piece for political purposes, and that's all.

[Walleye]

19. I'm thinking I wouldn't be surprised if Trump had called him up on the phone and leaned on him like he does

[Think. Again.]

20. Perhaps...

...hur's obviously got no integrity at all so he wouldn't stand up against any coercion like that.

[Silent Type]

14. If counsel recommended that, they screwed up big time.

[MOMFUDSKI]

16. No.

Biden got comeyed. Garland should have been long gone. Dems playing nice get their asses kicked these days. Wake up

[gab13by13]

17. Absolutely not,

Read Jill Biden's response and then get back to me.