Although special counsel Robert Hur chose not to bring charges against Joe Biden over his mishandling of classified documents, he nonetheless tossed a huge sandbag in front of the president.

Hur’s report, released Thursday found that Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified military and national security information, according to reports.

The documents were found in Biden’s garage, offices and the basement of his home in Delaware. FBI agents also found classified notebooks in unsecured spaces at Biden’s Virginia and Delaware homes after leaving his vice presidency under Barack Obama.

Obviously, that’s not good, but Biden will be able to brush it off. Why?

According to the report, it would be difficult to prosecute Biden, who could appear to a jury as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

This “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” is the leader of the free world. This “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” is running for re-election.

Investigators found Biden’s “memory was significantly limited” in interviews they conducted with him in 2023.

The president’s age has been top of mind for some time, with critics doubting that he would make it through a second term, if re-elected, and noting incidents of physical stumbles and mental lapses.

On Sunday, Biden told a Las Vegas crowd he met with François Mitterrand, a French president who has been dead for 28 years.

“I sat down, and I said, ‘America’s back,’” Biden told the crowd. “And Mitterrand from Germany — I mean from France — looked at me and said …”

He also has a penchant for referencing conversations with people who died before he was born.

The White House is doing its best to control the optics.

As Politico reported, Biden has been using a smaller set of steps to board Air Force One, for example, after stumbling on the longer stairs leading up to the plane.

The president has also tried to tap dance around the age issue, stressing the “wisdom” he’s gained over the years.

It’s not working, and Hur’s declaration of Biden as being a nice old man with a bad memory who shouldn’t be charged isn’t helping the president’s bid to appear up to the job.

But it may cement doubts in voters’ minds.

“Satchel Paige famously said about age: ‘It’s mind over matter — if you don’t mind, it don’t matter.’ But this does matter to voters,” said Rick Ridder, a longtime Democratic strategist told Politico. “And Biden’s physical fragility complicates his effort to convince voters that re-electing him is a vote for stability. Because it’s hard for anyone to embody stability at 80 years old.”

The president took a shot at hiding the elephant in the room with a post-report statement issued Thursday:

“The Special Counsel released today its findings about its look into my handling of classified documents. I was pleased to see they reached the conclusion I believed all along they would reach – that there would be no charges brought in this case and the matter is now closed.”

It’s best not to think about the “why,” Mr. President.