Robert Hur defends focus on Biden memory in explosive classified files report

Special counsel Robert Hur will defend his explosive report into Joe Biden's handling of classified files under questioning from Congress.

He will tell lawmakers that his assessment of the president's memory as poor, remarks that sparked uproar last month, was "accurate and fair".

The report found Mr Biden "wilfully" retained troves of files but Mr Hur declined to charge him with a crime.

The president's age has become a key issue as he runs for a second term.

Last month, Mr Hur's report was published into how classified documents from Mr Biden's time as vice-president ended up in an office in Washington and in a garage next to his sports car in his home in Delaware.

Explaining why he declined to bring charges, Mr Hur said in his report that a jury would view him as a "well meaning, elderly man" with a "poor memory".

The comments enraged the White House and reinforced some voters' concerns over Mr Biden's age.

In prepared opening remarks shared hours before he appears before the House Judiciary Committee at Capitol Hill, Mr Hur defended his decision to detail issues with the president's memory, arguing it was relevant to his decision not to bring charges.

"My assessment in the report about the relevance of the president's memory was necessary and accurate and fair," Mr Hur plans to say. "Most importantly, what I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe."

He plans to add that he did not "disparage the president", but was required to explain his logic to the US attorney general. "These are the types of issues prosecutors analyse every day," he will say.

Mr Hur alleged in his February report that the president struggled to recall major events from his time serving as vice-president, and could not when exactly his term in office had begun or when his son Beau died of cancer.

The transcript of the report - released just ahead of Mr Hur's testimony - shows Mr Biden did in fact the month and date Beau died, but struggled to the year.

"What month did Beau die? Oh God - May 30th," Mr Biden asked during the interview.

A White House lawyer responded with "2015" and the president responded: "Was it 2015 he had died":[]}