Now that President Joe Biden has found himself in the midst of an expansive and worrisome scandal involving a number of caches of classified documents found throughout his numerous properties, we have ourselves a unique opportunity to directly compare the federal response he is facing with the situation down at Mar-a-Lago back in August when Donald Trump was also found to be in possession of classified material.
In Trump’s case, there were armed FBI goons raining down on his Florida estate, spending hours upon hours rifling through the former President’s residence.
Biden, on the other hand…
President Joe Biden’s Justice Department reportedly permitted the president’s personal attorneys to search for classified documents in separate locations without security clearances or the FBI present.
Critics have questioned why Biden’s personal attorneys were initially looking for classified documents. Others have questioned why the president’s legal team was continuing to search his home Thursday for classified documents after a special counsel was appointed earlier that day.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the initial search, authorized by DOJ, involved people with no security clearance looking for potentially classified material. “Mr. Biden’s legal team prepared to search his other properties for any similar documents, and discussed with the Justice Department the prospect of having FBI agents present while Mr. Biden’s lawyers conducted the additional searches,” the report said.
“Instead, the two sides agreed that Mr. Biden’s personal attorneys would inspect the homes, notify the Justice Department as soon as they identified any other potentially classified records, and arrange for law-enforcement authorities to take them,” the report added.
This hasn’t sat well with President Biden’s critics.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), House Oversight Committee chair, believes nobody would have known of the unearthed documents in the Biden Penn Center or Biden’s home if CBS News had not first reported the scandal. The White House claimed total transparency after the scandal broke.
The White House has not yet explained why Biden’s personal attorneys initially searched Biden’s residence and the Biden Penn Center for classified documents.
The disparity between the two responses will almost certainly bolster the belief in the Washington establishment and their proclivity for protecting their own, which is going to be an uphill optics battle for Biden in 2024.
