Biden's Classified Documents

[Doctor Steuss]

Washington Post's #2 item on their "The 7" email this morning was the discovery of classified documents at a think tank office Biden worked from intermittently.

This leads me to 2 immediate questions:

What the crap was he doing with classified documents? The saving grace, appears to be that they were at least secured somewhat (not chilling in a desk drawer, and with magazine covers).

What the crap is wrong with Trump's lawyers? Biden's lawyers found them, and turned them over lickety-split. Trump's lawyers either didn't even look, or were a party to them not being turned over.

[Xenophon]

Good questions, Steuss. I haven't been able to read too much into it yet but so far it looks like the answer to #1 is: we have no clue. No one has said what is in those documents yet, although I did read at least a few of them had the SCI designation which is definitely not great. As you point out the one positive so far is that Biden's lawyers were the one to turn these in after finding them and they weren't previously requested or sought after.

Honestly I'm fine with Biden and Team just getting out of the way and letting the DOJ do its investigation before I make too many judgement calls. I'm sure the news will have no lack for amplification from folks who want to frame it as an identical scenario to Trump's despite the obvious differences (at least at this point). I'll be happy to change my mind on that if the investigation reveals they're much more similar than they appear at first reading.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

This is the first I’ve heard of this. From CNN:

Attorney General Merrick Garland has received a preliminary report on the documents inquiry, a law enforcement source said, and now faces the critical decision on how to proceed, including whether to open a full-blown criminal investigation.

100% on board with a criminal investigation if the office wasn’t fitted out as a SCIF, temporary-SCIF, Special Access Program facility, a Special Technical Office, or what have you. If this leads to Biden being charged with mishandling classified information then so be it.

- Doc

[Res Ipsa]

This is the first I’ve heard of this. From CNN:

Attorney General Merrick Garland has received a preliminary report on the documents inquiry, a law enforcement source said, and now faces the critical decision on how to proceed, including whether to open a full-blown criminal investigation.

100% on board with a criminal investigation if the office wasn’t fitted out as a SCIF, temporary-SCIF, Special Access Program facility, a Special Technical Office, or what have you. If this leads to Biden being charged with mishandling classified information then so be it.

- Doc

Yup. Add to that a review of whatever processes are in place to make sure classified documents don't inappropriately wander.

[ajax18]

Good thing for Democrats they waited till after the Nov election to reveal this. The "big Guy" has likely been on the Chinese payroll sice he was VP. In any event Biden shouldn't be prosecuted because he's no longer mentally fit to stand trial and hasn't been since he began his campaign for President. But the mainstream media has covered for him effectively enough to allow him to get more votes than Barack Obama and have the most successful midterm of any president in 75 years.

[Vēritās]

More batshit nonsense in a desperate attempt to equate both cases.

Biden classified docs vs. Trump classified docs: What's the difference?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Money shot from the article:

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has asked John R. Lausch, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and a holdover Trump appointee, to review how the classified material ended up at the Penn Biden Center

As a side note:

300+ classified docs at Mar-a-Lago along with obstruction

Less than a dozen at the office along with full cooperation

So, once again, exhaustingly, Xanax is Xanax.

- Doc

[honorentheos]

Good thing for Democrats they waited till after the Nov election to reveal this. The "big Guy" has likely been on the Chinese payroll sice he was VP. In any event Biden shouldn't be prosecuted because he's no longer mentally fit to stand trial and hasn't been since he began his campaign for President. But the mainstream media has covered for him effectively enough to allow him to get more votes than Barack Obama and have the most successful midterm of any president in 75 years.

Hey ajax. You should review how the posters above you reacted to this compared to your comments. Notice how both Doc and Res advocate for the fair application of law and principle? And how your response immediately inserted conjecture and fantasy in for facts? You immediately assume things to be true which is exactly the behavior folks call Trump Derangement Syndrome when people jump to the worst possible conclusion every time a story about Trump surfaces. Maybe work on being the change you claim you want to see in the world?

[Xenophon]

If I was reading correctly, Lausch had been specifically kept around by Dems to continue an investigation into a state lawmaker from Illinois (a Democrat at that!) which is furtoitous here. Garland has a difficult tight rope to walk here to get to the truth without appearing biased and I'm glad he at least has a lawyer to leverage here to help in that regard.

Most of the descriptions I'm seeing have these docs tucked into an otherwise innocuous box and I just don't understand how that happens. I know I've got no experience with classified stuff but I don't see how folks can be so cavalier or lazy in their handling of these documents.

[Vēritās]

Amna Nawaz: One item House Republicans are adding to their list of priorities, investigating a small number of potentially classified documents discovered at a private office that President Biden used after he was vice president. Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner wrote to the director of national intelligence today and called for a damage assessment into the documents and — quote — "potential violation of laws."

To help us understand what this means, I'm joined by Mark Zaid, an attorney who focuses on national security issues.

Mark, welcome back.

There's a number of questions here. I want to begin, though, with the timeline. We know, according to the White House, Biden's personal attorney found the documents while packing up and moving these files. They immediately notified the National Archives, handed them over the next day. This was all back in November.

Should they have disclosed this back in November, when it happened?

Mark Zaid, National Security Attorney: Well, there was no legal requirement for them to have done so, just, as with Trump Mar-a-Lago, we, the public, didn't know about the situation there for quite an extensive amount of time, until someone in both cases basically leaked the information to the media to run a story. One could possibly argue that perhaps the Oversight Committees in Congress should have been notified in both instances, but I don't think that happened with either case. But, overall, no, it's not that surprising.

....

Amna Nawaz: Mark Zaid, when you look at what happened with former President Trump and what's unfolding now, are the two circumstances comparable?

Mark Zaid: Other than from the very, very beginning, when there was the disclosure or finding of classified information, and, even then, it's really different, because the U.S. government had to go after President Trump, rather than the U.S. government being notified by President Biden's lawyers and the National Archives of this fact of what happened.

They're incredibly different. Now look, as a legal matter, any time there's classified information that is found that should not be where it is, that's significant. And, apparently, there was some very sensitive information in this, and there will be a very serious investigation by a former Trump — by a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, one of only two who remains, to look into this.

And, apparently, by press reports, that's almost finished. But the circumstances are so completely different. Immediately, as you mentioned, President Biden's lawyers notified the White House, who notified the National Archives, who retrieved the documents right away.

Now, we will see where the facts lead. But in the Mar-a-Lago case, there was a repeated effort for almost a year-and-a-half to get Donald Trump to turn over those documents. And it was only after multiple attempts to retrieve them and the execution of a search warrant because there were lies that were stated to the administration to recover this.

And now there's factual evidence that Donald Trump himself was hiding and obstructing the investigation. Very, very different facts, at least from what we know as of now.

Amna Nawaz: Do you agree there needs to be some kind of damage assessment, as Congressman Turner has suggested?

Mark Zaid: Yes, that, absolutely. And that would be common.

Now, and I will say it is very common that mishandling of classified information occurs, unfortunately. Individuals mistakenly take home documents for work, or they retire, and they pack up their office, and then, five years later, they find them in their garage or attic. And, mostly, this is always handled administratively.

It is really rare where some criminal penalty happens, if there's not actual espionage or egregious hoarding of classified information. But there always should be a damage assessment. We have to see, who accessed these files? How did they get there? Were they kept in that locked closet, apparently? But did anyone, as I say, get access to them?

So that would be common, and I would expect the House and Senate Intelligence Committees will receive a damage assessment at some point, particularly after the U.S. attorney finishes his investigation.

Amna Nawaz: Mark, in just the minute or so we have left, there is that ongoing DOJ probe, a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to look into Mr. Trump's handling of those documents.

Does this revelation about the Biden documents have any potential impact on that investigation?

Mark Zaid: Legally, it should not. Politically is a completely different creature.

As you have seen by the clips that you aired, this is and has been seized by the Republicans and will continue to be. And what concerns me the most is that, frankly, the average American is not probably going to be able to understand the difference between the two cases. They will think President Biden, classified records at his office, President Trump, classified records at his home.

But the reality is, these cases are so vastly different.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what- ... mer-office