Why special counsel reports often paint unflattering pictures of presidents even if they aren’t charged
CNNCNN — Special counsel Robert Hur’s report on President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified information has reignited controversy over special counsels and their investigative reports, which are designed to publicly disclose findings – including negative ones – even if prosecutors decline to bring charges. Attorney General Merrick Garland received Hur’s final report on Monday, according to the Justice Department, and immediately was confronted with how to handle the harsh assessment of the president’s conduct, including language saying that a jury could see him as an “elderly man with a poor memory.” Garland and other top Justice Department officials had the option to try to remove some of the characterizations in Hur’s report that the White House says were gratuitous and false. Had this report been subject to a normal DOJ review these remarks would undoubtedly have been excised.” But current and former officials said Hur’s detailed explanation for not charging Biden was well within Justice Department guidelines for special counsels. Ty Cobb, a former White House attorney for Trump during the Mueller investigation, said the reasons Hur cited for not charging Biden are “valid considerations, particularly given the fact that under current DOJ policy, the president could not be charged for almost two years and it would take another year or more to get to trial.” But, Cobb added, “I am surprised, unless the president’s lawyers argued his feebleness, that there was so much detail.” The Justice Department and Hur’s office declined to comment.