White House doubles down after Hur testimony

Attacking special counsels is fine now, apparently. At least, that’s according to the “Forrest Gump of political failure,” Ian Sams.Former special counsel Robert Hur testified to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that his report on Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, contrary to claims from the White House and Democrats — did not “exonerate” or “clear” Biden — and that there was evidence he willfully retained classified documents, that he shared them with others and that his ghostwriter obstructed the investigation. Sams, however, who is the White House’s spokesman on investigative matters, told CNN that Hur was “misleading”…

Attacking special counsels is fine now, apparently. At least, that’s according to the “Forrest Gump of political failure,” Ian Sams.

Former special counsel Robert Hur testified to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that his report on Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, contrary to claims from the White House and Democrats — did not “exonerate” or “clear” Biden — and that there was evidence he willfully retained classified documents, that he shared them with others and that his ghostwriter obstructed the investigation. Sams, however, who is the White House’s spokesman on investigative matters, told CNN that Hur was “misleading” in his testimony.

“In fact, later in the report, 200 pages in, not on page two, but 200 pages in, he says very clearly that the evidence does not fully support the idea that he willfully retained classified documents,” Sams claimed.

To be fair, Hur’s testimony was also not a slam dunk for Republicans, who disagreed with Hur’s decision not to charge Biden. Hur stood by his assessment that it would be difficult to secure a conviction with the available evidence — namely, that Biden may present as a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory” and that they may accept “innocent explanations” for the classified materials being strewn about multiple homes and offices quite haphazardly. Overall, Hur walked a fine line, neither convicting nor exonerating the president for his handling of classified information, referring time after time back to the findings in his report.

The testimony came at an awkward time for Democrats, who were pleasantly surprised by the relative vigor that Biden showed for (most) of his State of the Union address. The Department of Justice chose the day of Hur’s testimony to release a transcript of the interview they conducted with Biden as a part of the probe. Now, the thought of the president making car noises and forgetting what year his son died are back on center stage.

Despite his erroneous comments, the whole saga is a big win for Sams. Any way that he can memory-hole his many career failures, like serving as a spokesperson for Kamala Harris’s doomed 2020 campaign and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 defeat, has to be a win. Let’s not forget that this is a man who modeled a “Grillary Clinton” apron for all the world to see. Attacking a seemingly stand-up special counsel is far less embarrassing than that.

-Matthew Foldi

On our radar

TIME’S UP FOR TIKTOK? The House of Representatives voted across party lines Wednesday to force TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or risk being banned in the United States.

WHERE’S HUNTER? Hunter Biden declined a chance at a public appearance in the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry into President Biden even though he previously insisted he would only testify publicly. The younger Biden appeared last month for a private deposition after initially defying a congressional subpoena.

AARON IT OUT New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is reportedly a top choice to serve as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election. Rodgers spent most of the 2023-24 NFL season on the injured reserve list after suffering an Achilles rupture but said he still intended to play for the Jets this year.

Bucking the system

Representative Ken Buck is not quiet quitting. The Republican from Colorado gave his (more or less) two weeks’ notice yesterday, announcing his departure from Congress at the end of next week. He said in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash:

It is the worst year of the nine years and three months that I’ve been in Congress and having talked to former members, it’s the worst year in forty, fifty years to be in Congress. But I’m leaving because I think there’s a job to do out there. This place has just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people.

Buck’s announcement apparently caught speaker of the House Mike Johnson off guard, as the Washington Post reports he said, “I was surprised by Ken’s announcement. I’m looking forward to talking with him about that.”

The Post further notes, “Once Buck departs, Republicans will outnumber Democrats 218 to 213 in the House. That means Republicans can afford to lose only two votes to pass legislation along party lines when everyone is attending and voting.”

–Teresa Mull

January 6 committee exposed

Representative Barry Loudermilk’s long-awaited findings on the January 6 select committee have finally been released.

According to the Subcommittee on Oversight’s report, the committee failed to archive some data, deleted and encrypted other data and hid multiple interviews of witnesses with firsthand knowledge of Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021. The subcommittee was also able to produce over 100 deleted and password-protected files, including one document that revealed a witness who worked in the White House and sat for an interview. There was also evidence that Trump wanted 10,000 National Guardsmen to help protect the Capitol that day, contrary to the January 6 select committee’s findings.

The new report also contests the credibility of several witnesses, including former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. Hutchinson alleged that Trump lunged at the steering wheel of his presidential SUV after making a speech at the Ellipse. The vehicle’s driver denied Hutchinson’s story after he was brought in for an interview — which itself didn’t happen until months after Hutchinson’s widely televised public testimony. The committee also declined to interview the two Secret Service agents referenced in Hutchinson’s testimony who might have corroborated her tale.

At the end of the day, Cockburn could have guessed all this. What he really wants to know is if Loudermilk’s investigation was motivated by payback for Democrats suggesting he was giving a reconnaissance tour to Capitol rioters the day before the incident…

–Cockburn