Image source, Reuters

With the hearing about to wrap up, we're also wrapping up our live coverage now after Robert Hur, who investigated Joe Biden's handling of classified files, defended his findings in Congress today.

There's plenty more for you to read on this story though:

• The key takeaways from Hur's appearance
• Here's five things you need to know in the Biden classified documents report
• Who is the special counsel in the Biden documents case? Read more about Robert Hur here
• Biden previously hit back at the special counsel by insisting "my memory is fine" - you can read more about that here

This live page was edited by Francesca Gillett and Emily McGarvey. The reporters at the hearing were Matt Murphy and Nomia Iqbal, as well as Bernd Debusmann Jr, Brandon Drenon and Max Matza.

Lawmakers have returned following a brief recess and are back to questioning Hur about his report.

"Its been hours and hours," one congresswoman says, thanking Hur for his patience.

The questioning is continuing along the same vein. Hur is currently being asked by chairman Jim Jordan about all the places the secret documents were found. "It's everywhere," says Jordan.

Republican Ken Buck is one of the last to speak - and acknowledges that Hur is being criticised by both sides, so "must be doing a great job" if he's being criticised by both teams equally.

One side thinks you're trying to get Trump elected and the other side thinks you're trying to get Biden elected, Buck says.

Francesca Gillett
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, EPA

It was a non-stop few hours of lawmakers firing questions at Robert Hur over his report - with Republicans and Democrats both attacking him for different reasons. Here are some of the key moments:

• Why no charges for Joe Biden? Democratic lawmakers tried to make the case that Hur wasn't just being easy on Biden when he chose not to charge him for keeping classified files, and that it was because of a lack of evidence. But Republicans said Hur had allowed Biden to get away with committing a crime
• Memory: The most politically explosive part of Hur's report were the sections that questioned Biden's memory. This didn't come up as much as we thought, but Democrats including Adam Schiff accused Hur of knowingly unleashing a "political firestorm" when he included the memory comments in his report - and that Hur did so because he was biased. Hur denied this, saying politics had no place in his work
• Trump comparisons: Several Democrats kept trying to contrast Biden with Trump, who is facing a trial for storing classified documents, saying the key difference was one of intent and criminality. They say Trump knowingly broke the law and obstructed justice. They also attacked Trump and played clips showing similar memory lapses to Biden's
• Biden's motives: The committee chairman - Republican Jim Jordan - said Biden deliberately broke the rules by keeping classified documents, because he wanted to hold on to his notebooks to help his ghostwriter write his memoir. Biden has previously said it was his staff who were involved with clearing his offices and moving the classified files
• Hur defended himself: Hur - who is a Republican - repeatedly said his work is not swayed by politics. He defended commenting on Biden's memory in his report, saying he had to assess Biden's state of mind when deciding whether Biden wilfully kept secret documents

Both former US President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden have been in hot water over classified documents.

Biden has not been charged, but Trump is facing a trial over his alleged mishandling of classified files.

The committee is now taking a break so members can go and vote on an immigration bill.

Chairman Jim Jordan has been trying to give everyone who wants to a chance to speak - but since there's 44 members, it's taken a while. After the vote, the committee will resume so the last remaining members can speak.

However as Congresswoman Deborah Ross pointed out, the hearing still isn't as long as the five-hour interview that Biden gave former special counsel Robert Hur.

Matt Murphy
Reporting from the hearing

Image source, Reuters

We are entering into the final few contributions here in the chamber.

Special counsel Robert Hur has broadly remained implacable throughout proceedings. He was rattled only momentarily when facing a rapid barrage of questioning from Florida firebrand Matt Gaetz, who adopted an aggressive posture.

Other lawmakers have broadly stuck to scripted remarks, hoping to catch a moment for social media and sway public opinion.

But generally speakers from both parties have trotted out arguments widely shared in the media since Hur's report was released last month.

Matt Murphy
Reporting from the hearing

Committee chairman Jim Jordan seems keen to wrap proceedings here up. Robert Hur has now endured over three and a half hours worth of questioning.

As the room slowly empties out, Jordan is glancing at the clock hanging over the chamber and speedily approving requests to enter documents into the records by the remaining speakers.

Sitting beside him, ranking Democrat Jerry Nadler is leaning back in his chair and is seemingly scrolling on his phone.

Hur endures hours of questioning as the room empties outpublished at 17:27 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March

17:27 GMT 12 March

Nomia Iqbal
Reporting from the hearing

Image source, Reuters

The room is not as busy - half of the lawmakers have left to attend other business - as the hearing gets ready to wrap.

But this has been a somewhat bruising hearing for Robert Hur - a registered Republican - who has been accused of having an agenda by both sides

Republicans claim he declined to charge Biden due to being under political pressure by the Department of Justice and the White House (he denies this).

On the other side Democrats claim he made a point of Biden’s age because he’s a Republican political operative trying to get Donald Trump re-elected (he denies this).

Hur has generally kept a calm composure, stating his investigation was impartial and fair.

Hur may conclude that being accused by both sides of bias may therefore not be a bad place to be.

Max Matza
US reporter

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, a Democrat from the Philadelphia suburbs, asks Hur if he wishes to "correct the record on an important point" - whether Biden forgot the date that his son Beau died of brain cancer.

She says that Hur had specifically asked about the month - a fact that Biden did know - and not the date.

"His memory was pretty firm on the month and the day," she tells Hur, to which he responds, "I don't believe that's correct with respect to the transcript".

The transcript, published here by NBC News,, external shows that the exchange didn't come from a question Biden was asked.

Biden is telling a story and says, "and so what was happening, though - what month did Beau die? Oh God - May 30th" before someone jumps in and says that was 2015.

Matt Murphy
Reporting from the hearing

Republican Kevin Kiley is pushing Robert Hur on his decision not to file charges against President Biden.

The special counsel laughs when the congressman asks him if he had been on the jury, would he vote to convict Biden.

Hur says he won't go beyond the findings of the report.

We're several hours into Robert Hur's questioning in Congress and if you need a reminder, here's a recap of President Joe Biden's handling of classified files:

• 2 November 2022: Lawyers for Joe Biden found a batch of classified documents in a storage closet at the University of Pennsylvania's Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement - a think tank - in Washington DC while they were moving out of the space. The files were turned over to the US National Archives, which reportedly included intelligence about Ukraine, Iran and the UK
• 4 November: The National Archives informed the US Department of Justice that the classified documents had been found
• 9 November: The FBI conducted an assessment, per protocol, to see if the classified information had been mishandled in violation of US federal law
• 14 November: US Attorney John Lausch was assigned by the Department of Justice to conduct an initial probe
• 20 December: Biden's lawyer told Lausch that a second batch of documents was found at the president's private home garage in Wilmington, Delaware. The documents were from Biden's time as vice-president. Those documents were secured by the FBI
• 5 January 2023: Lausch advised US Attorney General Merrick Garland that a special counsel should be appointed to conduct a further investigation of Biden's handling of the files. Robert Hur is appointed to lead the investigation
• 12 January: Biden's lawyers notified Lausch that an additional classified document was found at the president's Delaware home
• 8 February: Hur releases his report

Matt Murphy
Reporting from the hearing

We've already had a long morning of questioning here on Capitol Hill, but representatives are now going to work through lunch.

Chairman Jim Jordan asks Robert Hur if he is willing to keep going, in a bid to ensure proceedings are completed by the time the House sits to vote on an immigration bill in around 40 minutes.

Hur says he is more than happy to keep going, perhaps eager not to delay his escape from Congress.

Nomia Iqbal
Reporting from the hearing

Image source, Reuters

Robert Hur, the lawyer who investigated President Joe Biden's handling of classified files, has been facing questions in Congress over his final report.

Hur's report found Biden kept secret documents from his time as vice-president and stored them improperly in different locations including his garage. But he did not begin criminal charges, saying there was not evidence and that Biden’s memory had significant limitations - bringing his age into sharp focus.

Hur finds himself a rare unifier - Republicans and Democrats are angry with him.

Republicans for not charging Biden, and Democrats for making the president’s age a focus.

They have accused Hur - who has said he’s a registered Republican - of trying to get Donald Trump re-elected which he denied in the hearing.

Republicans are looking for evidence that Hur was under political pressure to not charge Biden.

He has stood firm saying his investigation was impartial, independent and thorough. He said he could not determine whether Biden had wilfully retained and disclosed sensitive documents without addressing the president’s state of mind.

We've just heard from Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany who spoke of how the White House tried to get Hur to tone down some of his report.

According to our US partner CBS News, Biden's lawyer Richard Sauber tried to convince the special counsel to drop references to Biden's mental acuity and mental lapses, writing in a letter that such language was not "accurate or appropriate".

In the letter, Sauber and Bob Bauer, personal counsel to Biden, took issue with the fact the report had referenced Biden’s memory “on at least nine occasions” which they called “gratuitous”.

"It is one thing to observe President Biden's memory as being' significantly limited' on certain subjects. It is quite another to use the more sweeping and highly prejudicial language employed later in the report,” the letter said.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, House Committee on the Judiciary

Wisconsin Republican Tom Tiffany is seeking to show - as Republicans long have - that the White House had a hand in the special counsel's report, which they say unfairly fails to charge President Biden for keeping classified documents, like Donald Trump.

Tiffany asks: "Did the White House go to the attorney general himself and say that he would like to see changes to the references in regards to the president's memory?"

Hur says the White House did send "such a letter".

Tiffany then asks if charges would've been recommended if Biden was 60 rather than 80, to which Hur responds that he would not be responding to hypotheticals.

Matt Murphy
Reporting from the hearing

Democrats have spent much of the morning implying that Robert Hur - a registered Republican - is biased against President Biden and his administration.

But members of the special counsel's own party have also suggested that Hur's role in the department of justice made him biased towards the federal government and President Biden.

Rep Tom Tiffany accuses Hur of being part of a "Praetorian Guard" protecting the White House - a reference to the highly-trained elite personal bodyguards in Roman times.

Tiffany, a two-term congressman from Wyoming, accuses Hur of being "part of the swamp" and "guarding the elites".

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US Reporter

Image source, House Committee on the Judiciary

In yet another heated exchange, Indiana Republican Victoria Spartz accuses the justice department of double standards by moving to prosecute Donald Trump, but not Joe Biden.

In her remarks, Spartz - who was born in Soviet Ukraine - says the US is beginning to resemble a tyrannical government.

"I grew up under Communism and I have a very good recollection of what it is," she says. "Unfortunately, tyrants are on the rise and on the march...they've been emboldened by President Obama and now President Biden."

"Our government, and the Department of Justice, really now resemble a tyrannical government...it's sad for me to see," she says. "There is really a double standard."

Image source, Reuters

Joe Biden is the oldest president to hold office aged 81, and opinion polls often show his age is on the minds of American voters.

A national poll - conducted by Quinnipiac University, external - found that 67% of voters thought Biden was too old for another term as president.

In the same poll, when asked if Trump, 77, was too old to serve another four years as president, 57% of people said yes.

Voters were also asked about the pair’s mental fitness, with only 34% agreeing Biden had the fitness for another term, and 48% saying Trump had enough mental fitness for presidency.

Another poll held days after Hur’s report came out - conducted by ABC News/Ipsos - found 86% of Americans thought Biden was too elderly for another term as president.

Matt Murphy
Reporting from the hearing

The Democrats are again playing a video showing numerous verbal stumbles made by former President Donald Trump.

Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the oversight committee, is enjoying the video, laughing audibly even after the footage ended.

Matt Murphy
Reporting from the hearing

Image source, House Committee on the Judiciary

Robert Hur, who was appointed as a US attorney by former President Donald Trump in 2017, has refused to rule out taking a role in a potential second Trump administration. Democrats have suggested several times that Hur, a Republican, is biased against President Joe Biden.

"I'm not here to speak about what may or may not happen in the future," Hur replies.

The special counsel appears to be tiring of Democrat suggestions of bias.

Earlier, when asked by California Representative Eric Swalwell whether he wanted his report to be viewed credibly, Hur was silent for a moment, before tilting his head and replying slowly "that would be helpful, yes".