Her report

Author

Robert Hur (Special Counsel)

Impact

Fueled debate over President Biden's age and cognitive fitness

Subject

Joe Biden

Full Name

Report on the Investigation Into the Unauthorized Removal, Retention, and Possession of Classified Documents by Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Key Finding

Evidence of willful retention of classified documents but no criminal charges recommended

Common Alias

Hur Report (often transcribed as Her report)

Controversial Description

Elderly man with a poor memory

2024-02-08

2024-02-08

2024-02-09

National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF). Her report focuses on sexual misconduct and leadership as they relate to culture. Arbour’s 48 recommendations take a primarily legal approach to military culture change, focusing on how legal responses to military sexual misconduct incidents and reports can be improved. Beyond concrete legal changes, Arbour also provides recommendations about revising existing policies and practices that contribute to sexual misconduct and the poor [...] Women’s Integration: Going Beyond Numbers and Questioning the Warrior Ideal Arbour (2022) begins her report with a brief overview of women’s history in the CAF, linking (like Deschamps) the problem of sexual misconduct specifically to the incomplete and troubled integration of women into this historically male-dominated and deeply masculin-ized institution. The need to address women’s underrepresentation in the military is a key logic driving her recommendations. Arbour sees the military’s [...] In the sections below, we apply our feminist intersectional trauma-informed approach to themes in Arbour’s report as relates to women’s integration, civilian-military relation, education, the Universality of Service policy, and health and wellness.

I. What the Hur Report Actually Found We let the Hur report speak for itself. For ease of reference, we group the report’s findings into several categories. However, we should emphasize one general finding at the outset. The Hur report states: “In addition to this shortage of evidence, there are other innocent explanations for the documents that we cannot refute.” (p. 6) Given the circumlocution in that statement, you may need to read it more than once. The statement alone is inconsistent with [...] The report finds that the evidence of a knowing, willful violation of the criminal laws is wanting. Indeed, the report, on page 6, notes that there are “innocent explanations” that Hur “cannot refute.” That is but one of myriad examples we outline in great detail below of the report repeatedly finding a lack of proof. And those findings mean, in DOJ-speak, there is simply no case. Unrefuted innocent explanations is the sine qua non of not just a case that does not meet the standard for criminal [...] The press incorrectly and repeatedly blast out that the Hur report found Biden willfully retained classified documents, in other words, that Biden committed a felony; with some 3/11/24, 11:58 AM The Real “Robert Hur Report” (Versus What You Read in the News) 2/16 in the news media further trumpeting that the Special Counsel decided only as a matter of discretion not to recommend charges.

Coomaraswamy indicated in her last report that the first decade of the mandate emphasized standards setting and awareness, and that the next decade should focus on strategies for a more effective implementation. Ertürk, in her first report, “towards an effective implementation of international norms to end VAW”, identified this as her starting point. She prioritized issues of intersectionality and obstacles in advancing women’s human rights. The mandate holders have also sought the assistance [...] 21 The report on violence in the family was accompanied by a “Framework for Model Legislation on Domestic Violence”, E/CN.4/1996/53/Add.2; the annual report on trafficking in women, women’s migration and violence against women (E/CN.4/2000/68) acknowledges in its notes research assistance from a variety of sources; the annual report on indicators is backed by a research study titled “The Next Step: Developing Transnational Indicators on Violence Against Women”, A/HRC/7/6/Add.5. [...] 10 15 YEARS OF THE UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (1994-2009)—A CRITICAL REVIEW III.  Key areas of focus This section looks at key areas that exacerbate violence examined by the mandate. It must be stated at the outset that the two mandate holders have examined additional forms of violence or contexts in their reports beyond what is covered in this section. The selectivity here is based on themes that have received independent and fuller attention in annual reports

In response to the results of the investigation, Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the report, calling it "gratuitous" and "politically motivated", and questioned Hur's integrity. Representative Dean Phillips (D-MN), who was primarying Biden at the time of its release, honed in on the parts about Biden’s age when he stated that the report “simply affirms what most Americans already know and all but handed the 2024 election to Donald Trump” if Biden is the Democratic nominee. [...] Biden's memory added to that political controversy, with The New York Times, The Washington Post, and New York Magazine stating that it overshadowed the report's conclusion on not charging Biden. Shortly after the report's publication, Republican politicians utilized the report's statements on mental acuity to question Biden's fitness for re-election. Hur's report has been compared to FBI director James Comey's investigation into the Hillary Clinton email controversy, in which Comey's criticism [...] The report's comments on Biden's memory have sparked substantial political controversy, with The New York Times, The Washington Post, and New York "New York (magazine)") magazine describing them as overshadowing the report's conclusion against charging Biden. During a press conference later that day, Biden criticized Hur's report for negatively assessing his mental state, describing it as "extraneous commentary", and stated "my memory's fine". Biden criticized Hur for questioning him about the