DOJ accused of gross double standard in decision not to file criminal charges against Biden over mishandling of classified documents
By isabelle // 2024-02-12
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The Department of Justice is coming under fire for having a double standard when it comes to the topic of mishandling classified documents, taking a much softer stance on President Joe Biden than they did on former President Donald Trump. In their special counsel report, they concluded that Biden willfully retained and shared highly classified documents while he was a private citizen. This included sensitive information related to foreign and military policy in Afghanistan dating back to his time as a senator and vice president. He shared some of this information with a ghostwriter who worked with him on memoirs that were published in 2007 and 2017, reading some of the entries “verbatim.” Despite this finding and an acknowledgement that Biden was well aware that he was not allowed to keep classified handwritten notes in his home after leaving office, they decided against filing criminal charges. The report noted that if court proceedings against Biden were to take place, the 81-year-old would be viewed as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” They maintained that it would be hard to prove that Biden had malicious intent beyond a reasonable doubt given his forgetfulness and advanced age. Special counsel Robert Hur wrote that the president’s actions "present serious risks to national security, given the vulnerability of extraordinarily sensitive information to loss or compromise to America's adversaries." The report also noted that Biden had “limited precision and recall” in interviews. He was often unclear about when his term as vice president began and when his son Beau passed away. Hur said that “it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him” of such a serious felony “that requires a mental state of willfulness.” His assessment seems pretty accurate, but the idea that the DoJ is using Biden’s obviously deteriorating cognitive state as their excuse for not pressing charges against him feels political to many Americans. Legal analyst Jonathan Turley wrote on X: "The DOJ is defending the lack of criminal charges against Joe Biden while noting the difficulty of going to trial against a "‘well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." He added: “.....Biden is found to have "willfully retained" documents but he is still viewed as too "sympathetic" person for a potential jury. Conversely, Trump was clearly viewed as neither sympathetic nor sufficiently old to warrant such consideration.”

Trump demands case against him for mishandling classified documents be dropped

Trump, who is currently facing criminal prosecution for retaining classified material, expressed his outrage over the decision. The classified records were found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and he has been accused of refusing to return them to the government. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in a probe by Special Counsel Jack Smith. In a statement, Trump said: “THIS HAS NOW PROVEN TO BE A TWO-TIERED SYSTEM OF JUSTICE AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL SELECTIVE PROSECUTION! The Biden Documents Case is 100 times different and more severe than mine.” Trump’s GOP presidential rival, Nikki Haley, agreed that there was a “glaring” double standard while also taking the opportunity to point out both men are past their prime in a post on X. “Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump were reckless with classified documents. If Biden’s defense is old age and forgetfulness, Trump can easily make the same claim. Trump should quickly hire Biden’s lawyers.” Trump is now demanding that they drop the case against him, telling Fox News Digital: “Deranged Jack Smith should drop the case immediately against us. It is election interference… I did absolutely nothing wrong.” Sources for this article include: ThreadReaderApp.com FoxNews.com
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