President Joe Biden knowingly stored and disclosed classified information in unsecured areas of his homes in Virginia and Delaware, according to a scathing Justice Department report released Thursday.

While federal investigators working for special counsel Robert Hull found Biden acted inappropriately, they did not charge him with any crime.

“Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden knowingly withheld and disclosed classified material while he was a private citizen after serving as Vice President,” the nearly 400-page report said. However, investigators “concluded Yes, the evidence does not prove Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Biden angrily insisted at a hastily arranged White House news conference Thursday night that he had done nothing wrong. “They came to a firm conclusion: I didn’t break the law, period,” he said.

He also contrasted the documents investigation against him, which did not result in any charges, with that against Donald Trump, which resulted in an indictment.

“I am especially pleased to see the special counsel clarify the historic differences between this case and Mr. Trump’s case,” he said. “The special prosecutor acknowledges that I cooperated fully – I did not put up any obstacles, I did not seek any delays.”

The report is likely to spark political accusations that the Justice Department is applying double standards to Biden and his likely rival in the 2024 presidential race, Trump.

Trump earlier on Thursday condemned the report, saying it showed a “two-tiered system of justice and selective prosecution” and claiming it was “election interference.” He called for the charges against him to be dropped.

But Hull distinguished the two investigations, noting that Trump allegedly refused to return the secrets while Biden turned them over to authorities.

“Unlike the evidence implicating Mr. Biden, the allegations made in Mr. Trump’s indictment, if proven, would constitute serious aggravating facts,” the report said. “Most notably, the allegations were made after multiple opportunities to return the secrets. documents and avoided prosecution, Mr. Trump allegedly did the opposite.”

Materials found at Biden’s home included documents with classification marks about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, as well as notebooks containing handwritten notes about sensitive intelligence sources and methods.

In particular, Biden has preserved material from his 2009 opposition to sending more troops to Afghanistan when he was President Barack Obama’s vice president, including a confidential handwritten note he sent to Obama on the matter.

Classified Notebook

“After serving as Vice President, Mr. Biden stored these confidential notebooks in unsecured and unauthorized locations at his homes in Virginia and Delaware and used some of them as reference material for his second memoir,” the report said. .” “Mr. Biden shared the information in these notebooks, including some classified information, with his ghostwriter.”

Biden special adviser Richard Sorbo said in a statement that the White House is pleased that the investigation has concluded and found that criminal charges were not warranted.

“We disagree with some of the inaccurate and inappropriate comments in the special counsel’s report,” Sauber said. “Nonetheless, the most important decision the special counsel made — not to pursue any charges — was firmly based on the facts and evidence.”

Hull and his team identified several reasons why charges against Biden should not be recommended and possible defenses for him in a potential trial, including that he has a poor memory.

“poor memory”

“Mr. Biden is likely to present himself to the jury, as we did when we interviewed him, as a compassionate, well-intentioned old man with a poor memory,” they wrote.

Biden denied that claim Thursday night. “I have a good memory,” he told reporters. “I mean well, I’m an old man, I know what the hell I’m doing. I’ve been president, I’ve gotten this country back on its feet. I don’t need his recommendation.”

According to reports, Biden also emphasized in an interview with investigators that he declared these notebooks “my property” and said that in terms of retaining handwritten confidential materials after leaving office, “every president before me has done the exact same thing.” matter”.

Classification marks found on documents in Biden’s possession include Top Secret and SCI, which stands for Sensitive Compartmented Information and covers some of the most sensitive information kept by the United States. This also includes noforn, which means not to share with foreign countries.

The documents include a paper discussing issues related to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, a report from the Director of National Intelligence on topics related to the U.S. war in Afghanistan, an infographic related to Afghanistan and al Qaeda, and a CIA intelligence assessment, the report said. .

Investigators also found that Biden’s ghostwriter deleted audio recordings of his discussions with Biden after learning of Hull’s appointment as special counsel. However, the FBI was able to recover most of the deleted files, and the author cooperated with investigators during interviews.

“We considered whether to prosecute the ghostwriter for obstruction of justice, but we concluded the evidence was insufficient to convict and declined to prosecute him,” the report said.

147 Witnesses

During the course of the investigation, investigators conducted 173 interviews with 147 witnesses and collected more than 7 million documents, the report said.

Biden’s personal attorney Bob Ball said in a lengthy statement that based on the facts and the law, Hull had “no choice but to determine that the criminal charges are without merit.”

But Power lambasted Hull’s “investigative overreach,” which he said violated Justice Department norms, including criticizing conduct for which no charges were filed and making “baseless” comments about subjects of the investigation.

“He had other options, which should have been guided by department rules, policies and practices, but he made the wrong choice,” Ball said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)