The news left Republicans chuckling and Democrats enraged: It was when special counsel Robert Hur found that Joe Biden likely had willfully violated federal law and kept classified government papers to which he had no rights.

It was because Hur recommended no charges be brought against Biden because of his diminished mental capacities, including his forgetfulness about key dates and events and the likelihood he would appear as a well-intentioned but feeble old man on trial.

Even while expressing frustration that Biden would escape a criminal court, the GOP nevertheless on the side pointed gleefully to the recommendation. Democrats, first lobbying Hur to change his report, were infuriated when it ultimately came out as they now are pushing that "diminished" leader for another term in the White House.

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Now, it appears, it's not enough for Biden critics to know about the Hur conclusion; they want to hear the evidence for themselves. Which is why, according to a Washington Examiner report, the Biden Department of Justice is facing surging pressure from Congress and others to allow access to "audio recordings of President Joe Biden's interview" with Hur.

Biden's defenders at the DOJ so far have resisted demands from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and conservative groups such as Judicial Watch. Even CNN"s request has been turned back, creating what by now is a standoff.

"This is yet another brazen cover-up," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said, the report confirmed.

"The Biden Justice Department’s political gambit in asserting Joe Biden’s privacy concerns in order to withhold audio of his criminal interviews with the special counsel really takes the cake," he said.

The Examiner explained, "Hur found after a yearlong investigation that Biden mishandled classified documents as well as disclosed classified information to the ghostwriter of his 2017 book, 'Promise Me, Dad.' However, based on the interview Hur conducted with Biden, Hur found that the president might give a jury reasonable doubt that he acted willfully because he came off as a 'sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.'"

Hur confirmed he recommended against prosecution over Biden's "mental acuity." Or lack.

The department gave Congress a redacted transcript of the interview, confirming that Biden did have memory "lapses," the report said. Other times, he had recall.

Those seeking the records say they could shed additional information and details on Biden's mental fitness.

Now a lawsuit has been filed over access, and the DOJ says it will fight to continue withholding the Biden details.

The DOJ also claimed providing the audio could hurt "future" investigations.

Congress to date has threatened, but not filed, charges of contempt of Congress against bureaucrats.

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