There is breaking news from NBC that Biden’s staff has found more classified documents, not many, but more in searching offices outside the White House. This is a problem, and we only hurt ourselves by convincing ourselves it’s not. Get used to sh*t like this:
Special counsel https://t.co/omuc8YuAz8
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 11, 2023
If I were president Biden, I would appoint one right now. He has nothing to “hide,” indeed he wasn’t “hiding” them. I would want this investigated; I’d relish an investigation. I’d appoint some firebreathing prosecutor who hates Democrats (But not a MAGA, Chris Christie, former U.S. Attorney, is one example) who would investigate Biden just to watch him die. I would do all of this to maintain some sort of difference between myself and Donald Trump that even the MAGAs understand. THAT is the key. Do something even the MAGAs see as “different” than Trump. Perhaps Biden should suggest that the House investigate it, and he will testify. That might even scare them. They will blow it.
I was told in another article that I was being “absurd” when I said it would make prosecuting Trump harder. It’s not absurd. It should be absurd because the only overlap is classified files found out of order. Trump would be indicted over continually refusing to work with NARA and the wrongful purpose for holding them. Biden is working with NARA being responsible. But the MAGA media will make this every bit as bad as Trump, it already has – see Hawley’s tweet. And that makes indicting Trump that much harder because one has to draw a line that MAGAs won’t recognize. More below the news.
From NBC News:
Aides to President Joe Biden have discovered at least one additional batch of classified documents in a location separate from the Washington office he used after leaving the Obama administration, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Since November, after the discovery of documents with classified markings in his former office, Biden aides have been searching for any additional classified materials that might be in other locations he used, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details about the ongoing inquiry.
Biden aides have been sifting through documents stored at locations beyond his former Washington office to determine if there are any other classified documents that need to be turned over to the National Archives and reviewed by the Justice Department.
Anyone who says that it’s absurd to think it will make it harder to prosecute Trump should take themselves back, ohh, maybe five days ago and ask themselves. “If someone told me that Biden had held classified files since 2017 in his private office, would that be bad news for the Trump prosecution? I bet every dollar that the answer is “Yes” when the alternative is the situation five days ago when Biden was 100% clean.
It is only retroactively, in part denial, that we say it’s meaningless.
Hear me. I am not saying it should or will inhibit indicting Trump. I am saying it makes it harder. When one prosecutes an ex-president, you want to have it so obvious that at least 75% of the country can see that it needed to be done and is proper, or you have a recipe for riots and violence. If Biden wants Trump prosecuted, he should start taking actions right now that Trump has avoided.
He already started by voluntarily turning them over.
Trump went to the SCOTUS claiming his right to executive privilege. Biden should appoint a special counsel. Biden should make himself available to the House and tell them he’s happy to testify as to the facts (another thing Trump would never do). For everything Trump has refused to do, Biden should jump to voluntarily do the opposite because I presume that Biden is 100% clean on this. So he ought to start acting like it.
Otherwise, just saying, “But this is totally different because Trump refused to cooperate with the National Archives even after they referred it to the FBI…” is going to get you a MAGA answer “But a vice-president cannot declassify documents!” Yes, of course, their retort is entirely irrelevant, given that Trump didn’t declassify the documents at Mar-a-Lago and given the fact that there are reports that the FBI believes those documents were being kept for “nefarious purposes,” versus Joe not even knowing he had them. But it gives you an idea of the MAGA mindset. They think this is worse.Â
If I were Biden, I would want this out as transparently as possible. I would present contrasts to Trump at every corner. And if he doesn’t, if Biden hides behind “No comment” and “No comment,” and “the matter has been referred to DOJ,” and then Trump is indicted, Biden can expect to be indicted in 2025 if a Republican is in the White House.
The single best thing that Biden can do is encourage the new House GOP to investigate him, up to and including calling him as a witness. THAT, we know, will get overdone, and the GOP House will end up making it easier to indict Trump.
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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, SUBSTACK, HAKEEM JEFFRIES: POWERFUL, PASSIONATE, PRESIDENTIAL
That last paragraph says it all.
‘The single best thing that Biden can do is encourage the new House GOP to investigate him, up to and including calling him as a witness. THAT, we know, will get overdone, and the GOP House will end up making it easier to indict Trump.’
Do it.
A serious and thorough investigation could bring out the facts that (a) this happens a lot more often than anyone would think, and (b) the behavior of Joe and his attorneys is a textbook example of the right way to handle it when it does.
Not that I would expect a serious investigation (or for that matter anything serious) from the GOP – but I’m certainly all for an investigation. We have nothing to hide, as Churchill said to FDR.
It’s actually AG Garland’s call on appointing a Special Counsel, but President Biden can publicly state he not only has no problem with it but thinks it’s a good idea. Keep in mind that someone has already been assigned to and working on getting the facts regarding the documents found at the Penn Center office. Keep in mind he’s a U.S. Attorney out of Chicago who is a holdover from Trump. Yes, even though it’s been two years now and there’s been plenty of time to change over all of them some were, as usually happens kept on because they were doing a good job.
I see the merits of a “fire beathing Biden/Democrat hater” being given the job, but frankly it doesn’t matter who gets assigned. Because there’s going to wind up being no “there” there GOPers will scream the person was bought off, or that they were deep state and other horseshit. There’s already someone on the case and he has been for a couple of months and is up to speed. Making him a Special Counsel with this new matter folded in means he will be done with his work that much sooner. And again, he was a TRUMP appointee to be U.S. Attorney in a major jurisdiction. As a native Illinoisian who knows the state is as fucked up with political stuff as it was when I was young, and Chicago politics in particular that was no “throwaway” appointment for Team Trump. They wanted someone well-qualified who would kick ass and take names. The dude isn’t just any Trump appointee! And the fact that we are talking about less than a dozen documents in a single spot at the Penn Center that were found two months ago, that NARA was informed right away and those documents were in NARA’s hands less than 24 hours later and he’s STILL not done means he’s digging hard. HARD.
The Biden and Trump cases are two separate matters. If a Special Counsel is appointed and right away for the Biden documents then it shouldn’t slow down indicting Trump. Look, Trump and the GOP were going to scream bloody murder and howl at the moon no matter what, no matter WHEN Trump got indicted. Sometimes you just have to move forward and let the chips fall where they may.
This is a fantastic and thought-worthy comment.
Now hold on just a cotton pickin minute. Biden says he doesn’t know where these documents came from or how they got there, and I believe him. There needs to be an investigation by the FBI and the National Archives. Maybe this is all just a coincidence, maybe not.
Great. I assume he’s innocent. Come forward and testify to such. Perhaps declassify them if not harmful now.
YES, my thoughts EXACTLY!
Whatever he does, he has been around long enough to know what’s coming. Best to do as barney fife said long ago, nip it. Nip it in the bud. Be aggressive with the truth.
ONLY a problem if we make it one. Given the caliber of politicians who will be dealing with this, I am not worried about their respinse. Any fruitless fretting with no appreciable pushback from folks at our level? That’s the real root of the problem. So let’s show that we actually learned something in the last twenty years on how to actually treat this situation.
I have never touched anything classified. first off this is a pr disaster. this was what trump was going down for. now maybe not so much. second Biden has staff people. if heads roll they need to step up. third, Biden does need to be as transparent as possible. otherwise we will hear about this from trolls for years. final I hope Biden decides not to run again. I will leave it at that.
This is totally different , first these were locked up documents left in an office that were not Top secret these were left behind because nobody probably knew they were in there. They were sent to where they were suppose to go. The difference with Trump was that he refused to turn them over when asked . He had plans for those no doubt .
I agree 100%.
Do you expect the MAGAs to see it that way, too? Or does it need to be shoved in their faces?
Why wasn’t NARA seeking these documents, when Obama left office NARA retrieved papers from him, that he didn’t know he had. This is bad PR, but this was not intentional on President Biden’s part.
As with anything in politics, now they have their comeback on Dems they will not leave it alone, so while this is really unfortunate, and I am not entirely convinced it couldn’t be deliberate sabotage, I do think this will be the end for Biden. He should just bite the bullet & decide to step away at the end of this term. Otherwise this may end up giving the Republicans all the power. What Dems desperately need now is somebody entirely new & fresh with a lot of drive & enthusiasm who can lead the country. But first we need trump in jail along with his gang of political misfits – all of them !