Rep. Claudia Tenney, a Republican, is calling on President Biden’s Cabinet to explore using the 25th Amendment to remove Biden from office following Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report about Biden’s handling of classified documents after he left the Obama White House, where he served as Vice President. Rep. Tenny described Hur’s report, which did not recommend criminal charges against Biden but did allege that his mental health is not top-notch, as “alarming.”
As background, in his report on Biden’s handling of the documents, the special counsel said, “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 . . . It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him—by then a former president well into his eighties of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”
Elsewhere, the special counsel gave examples of Biden’s failing memory. The report provided, “In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (“if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?”), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (“in 2009, am I still Vice President?”), He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he “had a real difference” of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama. In a case where the government must prove that Mr. Biden knew he had possession of the classified Afghanistan documents after the vice presidency and chose to keep those documents, knowing he was violating the law, we expect that at trial, his attorneys would emphasize these limitations in his recall.”
Rep. Tenney, characterizing those details as “alarming” in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland obtained by Fox News, wrote, “After concluding that President Biden knowingly and willfully removed, mishandled, and disclosed classified documents repeatedly over a period of decades, Mr. Hur nevertheless recommended that charges not be brought against him.” Rep. Tenney continued, “Special Counsel’s reasoning was alarming.”
Continuing, she added that the examples show Biden has “dramatically compromised mental faculties,” writing, “He recited numerous instances in which President Biden exhibited dramatically compromised mental faculties and concluded that a jury would be likely to perceive President Biden as a sympathetic and forgetful old man.”
Then, after explaining why it is unethical to not charge Biden but to charge Trump for a similar offense, Rep. Tenney said that the president “most seemingly lacks the ability to execute his presidential responsibilities.” She then got to her 25th Amendment argument, saying, “So it is incumbent upon you to explore proceedings to remove the President pursuant to the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution.” She added, “President Biden needs to be charged, or he needs to be removed.”
In a tweet about her call for Biden’s removal, Rep. Tenney said, “Biden is either mentally capable to stand trial & should be charged for mishandling classified documents as Vice President OR he is unfit to serve as President. There is no middle ground.”
Watch Biden snap at a reporter who asked about his mental health:
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