Biden Says Special Counsel Reviewing Classified Documents Has Not Requested Interview

President Joe Biden leaves after attending a pilates class in South Tahoe, Calif., on Aug. 25, 2023. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

President Joe Biden said on Friday that he has not been asked to be interviewed by the special counsel who is investigating his handling of classified documents.

“There’s no such request and no such interest,” President Biden told reporters after a Pilates class while on vacation in Lake Tahoe.

In January, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate classified documents discovered in the president’s garage in Wilmington and the Penn Biden Center.

Mr. Hur has been investigating President Biden’s possession of sensitive government documents from his era as vice president and his time in the Senate.

“I will conduct the assigned investigation with fair, impartial, and dispassionate judgment,” Mr. Hur said in a Jan. 12 statement released by the Justice Department. “I intend to follow the facts swiftly and thoroughly, without fear or favor, and will honor the trust placed in me to perform this service.”

NBC earlier reported that the president’s lawyers and the special counsel have been negotiating over the terms of a possible interview.

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Citing two individuals familiar with the discussions, NBC reported on Aug. 11 that lawyers and Mr. Hur’s office have been negotiating “how, when and where the interview might take place, as well as the scope of the questions.”

In June, former President Donald Trump was indicted for mishandling classified documents by special counsel Jack Smith. The former president appeared in a Miami courtroom and pleaded not guilty on June 13.

Samantha Flom contributed to this report.