The White House on Tuesday said it’s reviewing whether to release the transcript of President Biden‘s interview with special counsel Robert Hur as part of the probe into whether the commander in chief mishandled classified documents.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House Counsel’s Office is looking into sharing the sessions, which took place over two days, but stopped short of committing to making them public.
“They’re discussing it. They’re looking at it. There’s a process involved. They’re looking into it,” she said.
Ms. Jean-Pierre’s remarks come one day after House Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry against Mr. Biden demanded Attorney General Merrick Garland turn over the transcript and any recordings of the Hur interview.
The GOP lawmakers say they need the transcripts as part of its probe into the Biden family’s overseas business deals, noting that the material could reveal if the president retained sensitive documents related to countries in the agreements.
Some Republican lawmakers have also floated the idea of ordering Mr. Hur to testify about his interview with the president.
Ms. Jean-Pierre’s comments signal a shift in the White House‘s stance on making the interview transcripts public. On Friday, White House spokesman Ian Sams refused to say if the documents would become public.
“I don’t have any announcement on releasing anything today, but it’s a reasonable question and there was some classified stuff and we have to work through all that,” he said.
When pressed on whether the White House would release a redacted version to shield any potential classified information, Mr. Sams still hedged.
“We’ll take a look at that and make a determination,” he said.
The investigation focused on Mr. Biden‘s mishandling of classified documents after he left the vice presidency in 2017, and Mr. Hur decided not to bring charges.
The release of the special counsel’s report Thursday raised new concerns about Mr. Biden‘s age of 81 and whether he’s fit to fulfill the duties of his office.
Mr. Hur‘s report characterizes Mr. Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” and that he had “diminished faculties in advancing age.”
The report states that the president couldn’t remember when he was vice president or say within years when his son Beau died.
Mr. Hur‘s team spoke with the president the day after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel.