USA 2024 Elections Thread

[grarpamp]

Real Differences Between The Biden And Trump Document Troves

Authored by Victor Davis Hanson,

Former President Donald Trump for now certainly seems to have had more
documents labeled "classified" at Mar-a-Lago in Florida than did
President Joe Biden at his various homes in Delaware.

Yet otherwise, the comparisons between the two cases, contrary to
popular punditry, hardly favor Biden.

First, a stranger would face a far greater challenge entering a
post-presidential Mar-a-Lago than a pre-presidential Biden home,
office, or garage -- or who knows where?

Secret service agents and private security were stationed at
Mar-a-Lago. Prior to the 2020 presidential election they were not at
citizen Biden's various troves for most of 2017-2020, much less prior
to 2009.

Second, we seem to forget that for much of the developing controversy,
Biden's own team was investigating Biden.

On the other hand, the Biden Administration's Justice Department and
the FBI were not just investigating Trump as an outside party, but as
a former president -- and possible 2024 presidential candidate and
opponent of Biden himself.

Remember, the narrative of the first Democratic impeachment of Trump
was the allegation that Trump had used his powers of the presidency to
investigate Biden and his family, a likely 2020 challenger to Trump's
reelection bid.

Third, no one in a position of government authority had passed
judgment on Biden's alleged security violations.

That was not the case of the still alleged violations of Trump.

Biden, as president, had weighed in, during his own Justice
Department's ongoing investigations of Trump. Indeed, he proclaimed
the former president to be guilty: "How could anyone be that
irresponsible?" In contrast, he also dismissed the ongoing
investigation of himself with "There is no there, there."

Fourth, Trump is certainly right that as president he had a far more
substantial claim of declassification rights than did Biden, who took
the papers out either as a senator or vice president.

Fifth, the FBI was not merely asymmetrical in melodramatically raiding
the Trump home while allowing Biden lawyers to inspect various Biden
stashes. The FBI also leaked the purported contents of the subjects of
the Trump classified documents (falsely spreading the lie of "nuclear
codes" and "nuclear secrets") in a way it has not with the Biden
cache.

The FBI went so far as to scatter the documents on the floor for a
fake news photo-op as if the papers were so messily arrayed when they
arrived.

So far, the FBI has come lightly and belatedly to the Biden case
without the SWAT team get-up, and only under pressure from the public
and the Republican opposition.

Six, Biden did not "self-report." Biden's team did not call the
relevant government authorities the minute they discovered the
classified documents in Biden's office and home and garage.

In truth, Biden, or someone close to Biden, certainly knew that he or
someone close to him had illegally removed classified documents when
he left the vice presidency in 2017 -- or years earlier as a senator.

For at least the last six years -- at least -- Biden has felt no
compunction to confess to authorities he illegally was in possession
of classified documents.

Indeed, the only reason the current troves are coming to light was
apparent White House paranoia that the media, the Biden Justice
Department, and the special counsel were so fixated on the Trump
documents that they likely feared someone might raise the logical
question of whether a hypocritical Biden himself might be guilty of
exactly the crime for which they were pursuing Trump.

Worse, Biden and his staff knew classified documents were in his
possession before the midterms, but deliberately suppressed that
information until after the elections were over.

Seventh, Trump's documents were stored only at one place --
Mar-a-Lago, and only for about 19 months. Biden's were stashed at
various locations for nearly seven years, or perhaps over a decade.

There were far more opportunities of time and space for those without
security clearances to have access to the Biden documents than to the
Trump files.

Eighth, the press has exhaustively speculated, usually wrongly, about
how the documents reached Mar-a-Lago and what they contained.

In contrast, no one knows or even asks why Biden took classified
documents, what they concerned, or who if any in his family circle had
access to them.

Ninth, Trump's documents did not expose other liabilities of the
constantly investigated Trump. The Biden files so far have directed
attention to the mysterious tens of millions of dollars in Communist
Chinese money that poured into Biden's think tank at the University of
Pennsylvania, the proximity of members of the quid pro quo Biden
consortium to these classified papers, and the files' relevance, if
any, to the Biden family's overseas businesses.

Did Hunter Biden ever consult or view classified documents while
living in a home with them? Will there be fingerprint or DNA tests on
the documents? If Hunter consulted any of these classified documents,
then the Biden presidency is finished.

Tenth, Trump possessed contested documents as a private citizen.
Biden's files under contention involve the current behavior of the
president of the United States. Biden ran for office, was elected, and
serves as president with the full knowledge that during all this time
he unlawfully possessed classified documents.