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For months now, there has been a national discussion about whether former President Trump committed a crime by ignoring repeated requests from the National Archives to return any classified documents he had in his possession. Just when Republicans thought the bipartisan debate would never end, President Biden inadvertently comes to the rescue. After authorities discovered he also had classified documents in his personal possession, the focus turned on him. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate further and, the next day, Republicans announced plans to investigate Biden as well. Straight Arrow News contributor Jordan Reid explains how she thinks Trump’s violations are worse than Biden’s.
The vehemence with which the right – including newly-elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy – have latched onto the “Biden steals classified White House documents” narrative is predictable, ironic…and exhausting. The thing is, no one except the most rabid Fox-watchers actually think Biden’s documents drama and Trump’s are even in the same neighborhood, when it comes to culpability.
I mean….right? Biden’s removal of classified documents from the White House shouldn’t have happened, but it was a pretty clear case of unfortunate mishandling paired with very unfortunate timing.
Biden has stated that he had no knowledge of the presence of the documents, and immediately notified the National Archives upon their discovery, handing them over voluntarily. Trump’s situation was…something else. Like, multiple ignored FBI requests, lies, subpoenas, false assurances, all ending with “oh, no, I declassified them all in my head so it’s cool.” He had nuclear information marked “top secret” In his hotel. On purpose! One was a mistake, and the other was a deliberate – and ongoing – act of malice, done with criminal intent.
That said, it’s still not a great situation for Biden. McCarthy suggested earlier this week that Congress should launch its own probe into the president, and Rep. James Comer, the newly-installed chair of the House Oversight Committee, also indicated that an investigation into Biden is on the way.
You guys, this was supposed to be it! The Mar-a-Lago documents were supposed to be the thing that finally got Trump indicted. I believed it. But I also believed that Bob Mueller would save us, and look how that turned out.
