House Oversight Committee Representative Jamie Raskin trashed any attempt Republicans might make to confront Trump and Biden over their handling of classified documents.
What did Representative Raskin say about Biden and the classified documents?
Rep. Raskin (D-MD) said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:
Today’s report shows that the White House, President Biden, and his former staff cooperated fully with the special counsel’s investigation. The White House’s decision not to exercise privilege on any part of the Special Counsel’s report reflects the President’s fundamental commitment to cooperation and transparency. After an extensive year-long investigation, the Special Counsel concluded that President Biden retained a small number of documents, including personal notebooks, containing classified information. As the Special Counsel found, President Biden’s conduct, which bears striking similarities to the handling of classified information by former Vice President Pence and former President Ronald Reagan after their terms in office, does not warrant criminal charges.
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To be clear, and as the special counsel’s report explicitly points out, there is no comparison here to former President Trump’s conduct. Trump thwarted efforts by the National Archives and law enforcement to recover hundreds of government documents by deliberately hiding them, lying about their whereabouts and enlisting others to destroy and hide the evidence. Trump intentionally and illegally stored hundreds of presidential and classified documents, which he stored in a bathroom, ballroom, office and other locations at Mar-A-Lago, and repeatedly showed to guests.
Democrats stand ready to work on a bipartisan basis to implement legislative reforms to strengthen retention of presidential records by putting in place greater safeguards to prevent inadvertent retention of such records. We will also continue to explore ways to address the more difficult problem of officials deliberately stealing and hiding classified and top-secret government documents.
Why are the Biden and Trump cases different?
The difference between the Biden and Trump classified documents cases is intentional intent.
Special Prosecutor Hur found that there was no intentional intent on the part of President Biden to withhold classified documents in violation of the law.
The entire history of Trump’s interactions with the federal government over the classified documents case shows that the former president intentionally intended to violate the law and keep classified information owned by the US government. Trump lied about the documents. Trump refused to provide classified information. Trump lied about the documents he had. Trump claimed the documents were his and he intentionally deceived the government by refusing to return government property.
Special Counsel Hur had so little evidence against Biden that he turned his report into a series of personal smears.
When it comes to how Trump and Biden have handled classified documents, there is no comparison.
Joe Biden respected the law.
Donald Trump broke the law.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and professional memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association