2024-02-11 18:16:00
The aftermath of the special counsel’s report describing US President Joe Biden as an ‘old man with a bad memory’ is shaking the US political world. Meanwhile, remarks made by the Justice Department and the Democratic Party when he was appointed as federal special prosecutor Robert Huh (51), the person responsible for investigating Biden’s ‘suspicion of leaking confidential documents’, are attracting attention.
Federal Special Prosecutor Robert Huh. /AP Yonhap News
Special Prosecutor Heo was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in January last year. In a press release announcing the appointment of special counsel, Secretary Garland said, “He has a long and distinguished career as a prosecutor,” and “As a U.S. prosecutor, he has overseen significant national security, public corruption, and other high-profile issues.” Sen. Dick Durbin (Democrat), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said at the time, “Attorney General Garland has worked hard to avoid any appearance of politicization at the Justice Department,” and “the appointment of a special prosecutor on this issue once again demonstrates that commitment.” Special Prosecutor Huh is a Republican who served as Principal Assistant Secretary of Justice and Chief Federal Prosecutor of Maryland during the Trump administration. Even though Special Prosecutor Heo has different political tendencies than President Biden, he praised Secretary Garland for appointing him as special prosecutor. Rep. Durbin said, “Special Prosecutor Heo is a renowned prosecutor who received bipartisan approval,” and added, “(The appointment of special prosecutor) instilled confidence in the American people that the investigation will be conducted fairly and with integrity.”
Born in 1973 to a Korean immigrant family in New York, Special Prosecutor Heo, a Korean-American, grew up with his father being an anesthesiologist and his mother being a nurse. He graduated from Harvard University undergraduate school, Cambridge University graduate school in England, and Stanford University Law School. He joined the Justice Department after serving as a law clerk for former Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who was famous as the ‘Korean son-in-law’ at the time, appointed him as the head of the response team in April 2021 as hate crimes targeting Asians increased amid the coronavirus pandemic.
However, on the 8th, special prosecutor Heo announced his decision not to indict, but when the special prosecutor’s report was released that left the impression that President Biden was old and impaired in judgment, there was strong opposition from the Democratic Party and the White House. Biden held an unannounced rebuttal press conference and refuted the claims, saying, “My memory is fine” and “I am the best person to serve as president.”
Regarding the report in which he wrote that he could not remember the time of his eldest son’s death, he said, “I don’t need anyone to tell me when my son passed away. He reacted angrily, saying, “How dare you bring that up?” Vice President Kamala Harris also said, “There is clearly a political motivation, and there is no basis (for the special prosecutor’s claims).” US media reported that some in the Democratic Party even responded by calling it “the worst day of my term.”
In an email sent to supporters on the 10th, his wife, Jill Biden, also claimed that the special counsel’s remarks contained “inaccurate and political personal attacks.” “Trust me,” Jill said, referring to the special counsel’s assertion that President Biden failed to recall the year of his eldest son Beau’s death. “Like anyone who has lost a child, Joe will never forget Bo and his death,” she said. “I hope you can imagine how it felt to read that attack.” “I don’t know what this special counsel was trying to accomplish,” she continued. “I can’t even imagine someone trying to use my son’s death to score political points.”
In particular, there is an anxious reaction within the Democratic Party, saying that the special prosecutor has confirmed the anxiety that voters had. A Democratic strategist said, “If the special prosecutor didn’t even indict him because he was too old, how could he become president of the United States?”
◇Republican Party making ‘aging’ a political issue
Former President Donald Trump, who campaigned at a university near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on the 10th, said, “It is questionable whether Biden will be able to even reach the starting line (of the presidential election) due to his mental condition.” At the National Rifle Association (NRA) rally held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania the day before, he said, “Biden doesn’t even know he’s alive.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who is competing with Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, went on the offensive against both Biden and Trump. On the same day, at a rally in Newberry, South Carolina, Haley said, “We are dealing with a person who the special counsel says is having memory decline.” Haley also mentioned that Trump had confused her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the past, and said, “(Old age risk) is a problem that goes beyond Biden.”
He distributed mental ability test maps at the rally that day. A photo of the test paper posted on social media contained questions such as saying the names of animals after looking at pictures of snakes, elephants, and crocodiles, tracing a picture of a chair drawn with a solid line, and connecting numbers and the alphabet with a line that intersects them from the bottom up. Separately from this, Haley’s camp will also start operating an electronic display vehicle in South Carolina that will show videos of President Biden and former President Trump making mistakes or hesitating to speak, reports The Hill, a media outlet specializing in the U.S. Congress.
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