CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is urging Vice President Kamala Harris to invoke her powers under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment and declare President Joe Biden is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.
Morrisey penned a letter to Harris on the heels of a report from Special Counsel Robert Hur that raised concerns about 81-year-old Biden's mental and physical condition.
"In our letter, we argue you can’t have it both ways," Morrisey said. "If you’re cognitively impaired and you can’t be charged with a crime, how on earth are you able to also serve as president of the United States?
Harris
| File photo
"I think my letter to the vice president is very clear: it’s time for the cabinet to act and make sure that this issue gets resolved quickly."
In his report, Hur said charges were not warranted against Biden for his mishandling of classified documents from his previous positions as vice president and senator, noting “Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Morrisey, a Republican who is running for governor, sent the letter to Harris on February 13. It comes a day after state Senator and AG candidate Mike Stuart (R-Kanawha) said he is calling for a "thorough review" of Biden's qualifications to stay on the West Virginia primary election ballot.
"For too long, Americans have had to stand by and watch as their President has experienced a profound cognitive decline," Morrisey wrote in his letter. "Over the last few months alone, President Biden has mixed up world leaders and political figures, strained to address basic issues in public speeches, and wandered out of events in a disoriented state."
Morrisey said such "mental missteps have equally serious consequences," also noting a recent poll that found 76 percent of voters have concerns about Biden’s mental and physical ability.
"We need a president who is mentally fit," Morrisey wrote. "The demands placed on a president are intense, requiring continual cognitive clarity. He is often called on to make life-and-death decisions with little time. And in the wrong hands, the powers of the office could be dangerously abused.
“President Biden’s cognitive decline is of great concern to Americans, especially during these times that our nation is facing crisis after crisis both here and abroad."
In his letter, Morrisey noted missteps on the part of Biden, including how he “fell asleep during the COP26 climate change conference, only to come home and implement extremist measures from the event he napped at.”
Hur's report, according to Morrisey, “paints a clear picture of a President who is not up for the job.”
Morrisey called on Harris, a former prosecutor and California attorney general, to step up one way or the other.
I recognize that invoking the 25th Amendment is an extreme measure. But if you can look beyond your personal relationship with the President and evaluate the situation objectively, I’m confident you’ll conclude that now is the time for extreme measures. If you nevertheless insist that the President is mentally fit, then you should call on the Attorney General to pursue appropriate charges for the President’s willful mishandling of documents.
"After all, the Special Counsel declined to prosecute in large part because he thought President Biden’s profound forgetfulness would make it hard to prove mens rea. If President Biden is sharp enough to run a country, then he is sharp enough to act willfully. And as a former prosecutor, I expect that you want to see justice done in every case — even one involving a president."
