In a tumultuous exchange of letters between President Biden's top attorneys and high-ranking officials at the Justice Department, tensions have escalated over the recently released report from special counsel Robert K. Hur. Obtained by The Washington Post, the letters reveal that Biden's legal team expressed deep dissatisfaction with the report's tone and content, which they reviewed before its public release.

The report, which has caused political shock waves, described President Biden as "an elderly man with a poor memory" and criticized his practice of keeping sensitive information in notebooks as "totally irresponsible." Biden's lawyers argued that Hur had no justification for compiling a 388-page report, pointing to Justice Department regulations that state a confidential report should be sent to the attorney general if no charges are filed.

These letters shed light on the escalating conflict between President Biden's team and Attorney General Merrick Garland, who was appointed to restore Department norms after the Trump presidency. The President's attorneys accuse Garland of breaking these norms by allowing the report's wording. While Garland did not directly respond to Biden's legal team, Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer supported the document's language in his response, stating it was necessary to explain Hur's conclusions about the President's state of mind regarding classified information.

According to Department regulations, Garland would have had to inform Congress if any changes were made to the report. Meanwhile, both the White House Counsel's Office and President Biden's personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, expressed their concerns through letters to Hur before sending a scathing letter directly to Garland the day before the report's public release.

The letter to Garland included a passionate appeal, drawing comparisons to the 2016 case involving FBI Director James B. Comey's criticism of Hillary Clinton. President Biden's lawyers argued that Hur's criticism of the President's memory resembled inappropriate prosecutor criticism of uncharged conduct, which was found to violate Department practice and protocol during the 2016 election investigations.

Hur is expected to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on March 12, facing questions similar to those raised by Biden's legal team. The President's attorneys strongly objected to Hur's derisive references to Biden's memory, arguing that while noting specific lapses was acceptable, making a global and negative judgment on the President's powers of recollection was unwarranted.

Furthermore, Biden's lawyers protested that the report did not mention that Hur's questioning of the President occurred the day after the October 7 attacks in Israel. They contended that this context was essential in understanding Biden's mindset during the interview.

In addition to the memory issue, Biden's legal team expressed frustration with Hur's focus on personal notes Biden had taken during his time as vice president. Hur quoted Biden's previous statement calling Trump's practice of keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago "totally irresponsible," arguing that the same conclusion applied to Biden's retention of notebooks at home.

Biden's lawyers countered that the practice of keeping personal diaries was common among former presidents and vice presidents. They argued that it was not comparable to Trump's alleged mishandling of sensitive documents.

The disagreement also stemmed from whether it was appropriate for Hur to write a lengthy report criticizing Biden when he had concluded that no criminal charges were warranted. Biden's legal team pointed out that the independent counsel statute, which required exhaustive final reports, was not renewed by Congress in 1999 due to widespread criticism.

While tensions continue to rise, it is worth noting that special counsels in the past have issued lengthy reports even without filing charges, as seen in the case of Robert S. Mueller III's investigation into Russian collusion and obstruction of justice by the Trump administration.

Before contacting Garland, Biden's legal team voiced their concerns to Hur's office, but their complaints were left unheeded, prompting them to turn to the Attorney General.

As the clash between Biden's legal team and the Justice Department intensifies, the upcoming testimony of Robert K. Hur before the House Judiciary Committee may provide some insight into the disputes raised by President Biden's attorneys.