Biden admits keeping classified Afghanistan document 'for posterity's sake' in leaked audio

Biden first said he didn't recall why he had the document when asked about it by Hur, who told him it was found in the library of his lake house. 

"I don't know that I knew," that he had the document, Biden answered, "but it wasn't something I would have stopped to think about." 

Hur noted that Bob Woodward and Jules Witcover both wrote about the document in their books about him, asking if he wanted to hang onto it because it might be the subject of reporting or "history."

"I guess I wanted to hang on to it for posterity's sake. I mean, this was my position on Afghanistan. I've been of the view from a historical standpoint that there are certain points in history, world history, where fundamental things change using technology," he said. 

"So, there are a lot of things that I think are fundamentally changing how international societies function, and they relate a lot to technology." 

After the 80-year-old continued on that subject for a while, Hur interrupted him to get back to the topic of the document. 

"No, I'm sorry, that's why I wanted it," Biden answered. "It had nothing to with Afghanistan." 

One of the former president's lawyers then interrupted Hur to say, "For the purposes of a clean record," he wanted to avoid "getting into speculative areas," mentioning that Biden at first answered the question about the document by saying he didn't recall why he had it. 

At that point, Hur answered, "I think we should take a break." 

In other sections of the audio, Biden seems confused, asking what year his son, Beau Biden, died, and what year he left the vice presidency.

The audio, related to an investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents while vice president, came out after more than a year of congressional lawmakers demanding its release amid questions about the former president's memory lapses and mental acuity. 

The committee argued at the time that the audio recordings, not merely the transcripts of them, are "the best available evidence of how President Biden presented himself during the interview." 

Biden had exerted executive privilege over the audio recordings while president. 

Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other records related to national security and foreign policy that Hur said implicated "sensitive intelligence sources and methods."

Fox News Digital has reached out to Biden for comment.