Joe Biden is seething.

Today's report into his handling of confidential documents he took when he was a senator and vice president ruled out criminal charges, but it has raised other serious questions.

It labelled Biden as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory".

After reading both the report and seeing the news coverage of it, the president knew he needed to counter the narrative.

So he decided to utilise the bully pulpit of the presidency and called a hastily arranged press conference at the White House.

"I know what the hell I am doing. I am president and I have put this country back on its feet," he declared to the press in the room, and the American people watching in prime time.

If the press conference was meant to restore public confidence in his mental ability, then his reference to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as being from Mexico, won't have helped.

But he might be hoping a more energised appearance could counter some of the imagery the findings brings to mind.

On the face of it, the report was good news.

After a yearlong investigation into his improper retention of classified documents, Special Counsel Robert Hur said there was no chance of jail time.

But, it was in part because Hur didn't think a jury would hold him responsible because of his mental state.

"It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his 80s — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of wilfulness," the report said.

Despite his angry response at the White House, the report's description of the president will likely raise alarms with American voters set to determine in November whether they want to give the 81-year-old another four-year term.

The report has also provided major ammunition to his political opponents.

No charges for Biden but report notes 'poor memory' 

The investigation found Biden took classified documents relating to Afghanistan and notebooks with handwritten notes "implicating sensitive intelligence sources" when he finished his term as vice president.

Special Counsel Robert Hur said some of the documents, which "present serious risks to national security" were found dumped in a garage of his Delaware home "in a badly damaged box next to household detritus", including a collapsed dog crate.

The special counsel's report also looked at Biden's recorded conversations with his ghostwriter, who he shared sensitive information with.

The discussions are described as being "often painfully slow" with the president "struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries".