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Oh boy, this Special Counsel report is very political (Original Post) senseandsensibility Feb 2024 OP
Looks like the trumper judge senseandsensibility Feb 2024 #1
Yep, its the DOJ indicating they're very political and partisan without saying they're very political and partisan uponit7771 Feb 2024 #2
Yet, they are reporting that the DATE of the interviews was OCT 7--the day Hamas attacked Israel???? hlthe2b Feb 2024 #3
Good point senseandsensibility Feb 2024 #5
Investigators often note characteristics of those whom they are interviewing. TwilightZone Feb 2024 #9
Did any of Jack Smith's reports on Cheato senseandsensibility Feb 2024 #11
haha, yes TwilightZone Feb 2024 #16
Mea culpa TwilightZone Feb 2024 #23
Thank you for saying that senseandsensibility Feb 2024 #24
I had only seen the first few snippets from the report at the time. TwilightZone Feb 2024 #26
Honestly, this is a lot worse than Comey's gratuitous comments on the Clinton email investigation. Tommy Carcetti Feb 2024 #4
Yes, subtle they senseandsensibility Feb 2024 #7
Looks like orchestrated to conservative talking points. PufPuf23 Feb 2024 #25
Might as well have had Trump himself write the report! LeftInTX Feb 2024 #31
Yet many defend Garland FHRRK Feb 2024 #6
How did he willfully retain videohead5 Feb 2024 #8
Good point senseandsensibility Feb 2024 #10
From the NYT article chowder66 Feb 2024 #19
The response from Biden's lawyers is worth the read.... chowder66 Feb 2024 #22
Yes it is liberalmediaaddict Feb 2024 #12
Just saw this on TV and my jaw dropped. Native Feb 2024 #13
Yup. ismnotwasm Feb 2024 #14
Surprise, No, it was written by a republican that has egg on his face. republianmushroom Feb 2024 #15
What's the reason for this memory lapse? bigtree Feb 2024 #17
You should be in charge of Biden's rapid response team senseandsensibility Feb 2024 #18
The material was worse than I thought it would be Johonny Feb 2024 #20
Orchestrated... 2naSalit Feb 2024 #21
Hur knew he could say what he wanted without fear of death threats.Like he would get from the sick fuck Walleye Feb 2024 #27
Another example of the way Rs are pampered and catered to senseandsensibility Feb 2024 #29
I object. Argumentative and speculation on Hur's part. sinkingfeeling Feb 2024 #28
If you can't argue the facts or the law, pound the table. apnu Feb 2024 #30

uponit7771

(91,355 posts)
2. Yep, its the DOJ indicating they're very political and partisan without saying they're very political and partisan
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 04:13 PM
Feb 2024

hlthe2b

(105,866 posts)
3. Yet, they are reporting that the DATE of the interviews was OCT 7--the day Hamas attacked Israel????
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 04:13 PM
Feb 2024

Unbelievable for that SC to play into the RW memes, knowing full well what was going on concurrently. Unbelievable and as crass as it comes.

senseandsensibility

(20,256 posts)
5. Good point
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 04:15 PM
Feb 2024

But there is literally no reason to mention Biden's age or memory one way of the other. They're not doctors.

TwilightZone

(27,955 posts)
9. Investigators often note characteristics of those whom they are interviewing.
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 04:25 PM
Feb 2024

I agree that this seems gratuitous, but it doesn't take a doctor to note what's going on in an interview.

senseandsensibility

(20,256 posts)
11. Did any of Jack Smith's reports on Cheato
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 04:28 PM
Feb 2024

ever refer to his demeanor in any way? You know he had plenty of material.

TwilightZone

(27,955 posts)
16. haha, yes
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 04:47 PM
Feb 2024

Last edited Thu Feb 8, 2024, 05:58 PM - Edit history (1)

Jack Smith talks about Trump's demeanor quite frequently, especially in court filings. Trump's demeanor is a huge part of some of the cases against him. It's often as important as his words or actions. His demeanor on January 6th is a huge factor in the case against him. His demeanor recently cost him $83 million in a case in which it was the central issue.

I see these comments about Biden's demeanor more as incidental. I don't think they're malicious**, though many may disagree and that's fine. Calling Biden elderly is a fact, not an opinion, and unless there's some evidence that the comments about his memory are false, I'm not sure how objectionable that is or why we should be overly concerned about how they're interpreted. I think more people can relate than would be worried about it.

Does it feed into the right-wing narrative? Sure, but why should we care? They were already exaggerating well beyond anything that's being reported here, and this isn't going to sway anyone who understands that no one is perfect and that everyone has moments.

**Edit: upon learning more, I think the comments were needlessly personal and the intent seems to be to inject opinion into the report, a la James Comey. I left my initial comment, but with this further info, the comments seem closer to malicious than not. They're certainly highly gratuitous. I stick by my points that I don't think it will ultimately matter.

TwilightZone

(27,955 posts)
23. Mea culpa
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 09:47 PM
Feb 2024

As more information has become available, it's clear that Hur inappropriately injected a bunch of personal, petty, questionable nonsense into the report. I was entirely wrong in my first impression that I didn't think it was malicious. It's the very definition.

That being the case, to your prior point, Jack Smith obviously would never do the same. As I noted, he has certainly made Trump's demeanor a central point in his case, but it's always been fact-based and professional, of course. The two situations couldn't be more different.

senseandsensibility

(20,256 posts)
24. Thank you for saying that
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 09:50 PM
Feb 2024

This has been a whirlwind of a day showing just how biased the judicial system and the press is towards Dems. I hope everyone not deep within the rightwing bubble saw it for what it is.

TwilightZone

(27,955 posts)
26. I had only seen the first few snippets from the report at the time.
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 09:58 PM
Feb 2024

That's my fault. I really should have waited for more information to emerge. Usually, I'm completely over-cautious so I blew it on this one and it caught me off guard.

I still believe that the right has so over-exaggerated the issue that this may not register with a lot of people. The people who already believe the myth will continue to believe it. Others will look at it more pragmatically, especially since Biden got right out there and addressed it, especially the more explosive allegations like not remembering when his son died, and looked presidential, even in the face of a pack of jackals.

Tommy Carcetti

(43,481 posts)
4. Honestly, this is a lot worse than Comey's gratuitous comments on the Clinton email investigation.
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 04:14 PM
Feb 2024

Seems to play right into the conservative talking points.

Sheesh.

PufPuf23

(9,233 posts)
25. Looks like orchestrated to conservative talking points.
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 09:55 PM
Feb 2024

Garland's GOP Special Prosecutor's specific report is a surprise but not that the process turned into a rat fuck.

What is new?

I've been a Democratic Party member and exclusive voter for over 50 years and have zero surprise.

chowder66

(9,770 posts)
19. From the NYT article
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 05:04 PM
Feb 2024

White House officials said Mr. Biden had fully cooperated with the investigation and that he took the handling of classified information seriously.

“We disagree with a number of inaccurate and inappropriate comments in the special counsel’s report. Nonetheless, the most important decision the special counsel made — that no charges are warranted — is firmly based on the facts and evidence,” Richard Sauber, a special counsel for Mr. Biden, said in a statement.

.....


In a conversation recorded at a rented property in Virginia in February 2017 — a month after he left office — Mr. Biden told his ghostwriter he had “just found all the classified stuff downstairs.”

Mr. Hur said that exchange was the strongest basis for a prosecution he had found, but that a jury was unlikely to convict Mr. Biden, given the fact that he had grown accustomed to legally retaining documents as vice president, might have not fully adjusted to the new restrictions and believed he had the right to keep his personal notes — based on President Reagan’s retention of similar materials for decades.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/08/us/biden-documents-special-counsel.html?unlocked_article_code=1.T00.6Tlc.zz6Or7zH3wjA&smid=url-share

chowder66

(9,770 posts)
22. The response from Biden's lawyers is worth the read....
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 07:37 PM
Feb 2024

More on what Hur found potentially prosecutable. The report is a bullshit spin job and it's infuriating.

from page 386

In an audio recording with Mr. Zwonitzer. the President said: '"I just found all the classified stuff downstairs. I wrote the President a handwritten forty-page memorandum arguing against deploying additional troops to Afghanistan on the grounds that it would not matter." Yet your report appears to conclude that the President was referring to marked classified Afghanistan documents. rather than the precise document referred to in the actual recording: the President" s handwritten letter to President Obama about Afghanistan. which the President viewed as a sensitive and private communication. Indeed. the President testified in his interview that. although he didn't remember the comment to Mr. Zwonitzer, the •'only thing that [he] can think of" Vas this handwritten letter to President Obama. Tr.. Day II, at 38. We believe that an accurate recitation of the evidence on this point would recognize the strong likelihood that the President was referring in the recording to his private handwritten letter to President Obama­ the one mentioned on this recording immediately after the eight words that you are focused on­ rather than the marked classified Afghanistan documents discovered in the Wilmington garage.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24414122-report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024

liberalmediaaddict

(917 posts)
12. Yes it is
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 04:31 PM
Feb 2024

Lots of right wing talking points. No surprise considering Hur's background.

I'm sure House Republicans and the news networks will run with this story and frame it as "both sides are equally bad" narrative.

Although it probably doesn't matter since Trump's classified documents case in Florida is going nowhere. Judge Cannon is making sure of that.

Johonny

(21,848 posts)
20. The material was worse than I thought it would be
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 05:29 PM
Feb 2024

Not a great moment for Biden, but highlights from Pence to Trump to Biden how crappy national security documents are handled by the executive branch.

Feels like Congess should act to tighten requirements. They won't.

senseandsensibility

(20,256 posts)
29. Another example of the way Rs are pampered and catered to
Thu Feb 8, 2024, 10:40 PM
Feb 2024

Anyone who doesn't see it after today doesn't want to see it. You are 100% right about death threats. Another example of us always being the adults and never getting credit.

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