Biden Refutes Special Prosecutor's Conclusion on 'Intentional Leak of Classified Information'... "No Law Violation" Emergency Press Conference

Avoided Special Prosecutor Indictment... But Goryeong Controversy Spreads

Joe Biden voluntarily held an emergency press conference to assert that the special prosecutor's investigation result claiming "the U.S. president deliberately leaked and possessed government classified documents in the past" is "clearly wrong."

U.S. President Joe Biden held an emergency press conference on the 8th (local time) to express his position on the special prosecutor's investigation results.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

On the 8th (local time) around 8 p.m., President Biden stated this during an emergency press conference regarding the special prosecutor's investigation results related to his classified document leak allegations. He also emphasized, "I have never broken the law."

On that day, Special Prosecutor Robert Hur concluded that there was "intentionality" in President Biden's classified document leak but judged that he was not subject to punishment. The investigation report stated that evidence was secured showing that President Biden deliberately possessed classified documents and disclosed their contents even after his vice-presidential term ended while he was a private citizen. However, it also judged that the evidence was insufficient to prove guilt in court.

Furthermore, even if President Biden were prosecuted and tried, it was considered highly likely that the jury would determine he made a mistake rather than intentionally breaking the law.

This case first became known through reports in November 2022, just before the midterm elections, that classified documents from Biden's vice-presidential period were found in his office at the think tank Penn Biden Center. Subsequently, additional classified documents were discovered during a search of President Biden's residence in Wilmington.

The special prosecutor's mention of Biden's memory decline as a reason for not indicting the president has also sparked controversy. The special prosecutor pointed out that President Biden's memory was "significantly limited" when he spoke with a ghostwriter for his 2017 memoir and during last year's special prosecutor investigation. The special prosecutor explained that President Biden could not recall when he served as vice president or the year his eldest son Beau passed away. President Biden served as vice president from 2009 to 2017, and his eldest son died in 2015.

On that day, President Biden responded to the special prosecutor's claim of "having memory problems" by saying, "My memory is fine," and added, "I am the best-qualified person to serve as president."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.