Remarks turn to partisan slugfest

The special counsel who investigated US President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents defended his controversial remarks about his memory on Tuesday, and his decision not to file criminal charges.

Robert Hur's testimony before a congressional committee quickly turned into a partisan slugfest with Democrats and Republicans seizing on the contrasting behavior of Biden and Donald Trump, who has been indicted for his own mishandling of top-secret documents.

Hur said criminal charges against Biden were not warranted and, in a politically explosive section, described him as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory".