“That Wasn’t My Question” Hageman On Biden Classified Documents

At the House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) questioned Special Counsel Robert Hur about his decision not to charge President Biden with a crime.

In her usual style, Hageman's questions were direct. She almost all asked for a yes or no answer.

There were several moments where Mr. Hur either did not understand the question or tried to deflect and change the subject.

When this happened Rep. Hageman would pull him back to the original question so there was no misunderstanding about what was asked.

As an attorney with decades of experience battling the government in court, Hageman knows how to keep a witness on topic.

Hageman did not focus too much on the president's poor memory, as mentioned in the Hur Report.

“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Hur wrote in his report.

Hageman wanted to focus on President Biden's mental state when he was not president.

Did he keep classified documents at home, in deteriorating cardboard boxes and in the trunk of his car, in his garage, back when he was in a stronger mental state and knew that what he was doing was illegal?

You found that Mr. Biden fully understood his legal responsibilities related to the handling of classified materials. Which is why you concluded in your report that Mr. Biden 'Willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a citizen. (Hageman).

There was a bit of back and forth between the two for context, and then Hageman pushed on.

Please listen to my question. What I'm getting at is that Mr. Biden fully understood that he could not keep classified information at his home as both a former senator and vice president. Isn't that right? He understood that, correct? (Hageman).

Hur went back to his assessment of what a jury would see in Mr. Biden, an old man with a failing memory.

That isn't my question. (Hageman).

The congresswoman continued to push on what Biden understood back when he became a private citizen and kept the documents.

I don't think that's accurate congresswoman. Because, as Vice President, Mr. Biden was authorized to keep classified documents in his home. (Hur).

But after he left, he knew that he was not entitled to keep classified information at his home, correct? (Hageman).

Hur finally conceded the point but then tried to change the subject to Biden's notebooks, which was not the issue Hageman was addressing.