The special counsel investigating allegations of mishandling of classified documents by Joe Biden has decided not to recommend criminal charges, according to a report released Thursday that describes the US president as an “elderly man with a failing memory.”

“The case is closed,” Joe Biden said in a statement Thursday, and a White House lawyer welcomed the special counsel’s decision not to press charges but expressed regret at his “inappropriate comments.”

“Throughout my political career, I have always worked to keep America safe. I take these matters seriously, and no one has ever doubted that,” wrote the 81-year-old Democrat, who is running for a second term.

Appointed in January 2023 by US Attorney General Merrick Garland, special counsel Robert Goure concluded that “an indictment would not be warranted” against 81-year-old Joe Biden.

The appointment comes after classified documents dating back to Joe Biden’s time as vice president (2009-2017) were found in 2022 at his residence in Wilmington, Delaware, as well as in his former office.

In his 388-page report, Goure specifically refers to a five-hour, two-day interview with Joe Biden in which he says he noticed his “memory was failing.”

“He couldn’t remember when he was vice president,” he didn’t know exactly what year his term began or ended, nor the exact year his oldest son Beau died, he said.

In a press release, Joe Biden specified that this meeting took place in October 2023, in the very first days of the “international crisis” caused by the unprecedented attack of the Palestinians by Hamas on Israel.