Trump has repeatedly insisted that the investigation into his alleged refusal to return classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home is a politically motivated witch hunt. However, on Monday, special counsel Jack Smith’s team argued that Biden’s own mishandling of classified documents was nowhere near as egregious as Trump’s.
No comparison
“Trump, unlike Biden, is alleged to have engaged in extensive and repeated efforts to obstruct justice,” Smith’s team wrote in a 12-page filing, “and thwart the return of documents bearing classification markings.”
Refusing to budge
Trump is charged in the case with attempting to hide classified records from investigators. He is also accused of showing off top-secret documents and misleading even his own lawyers in his attempts to avoid returning them to authorities.
Different responses
Special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden’s handling of classified documents, noted in his report that “Mr Biden turned in classified documents to the National Archives and the Department of Justice, consented to the search of multiple locations including his homes, sat for a voluntary interview. and in other ways cooperated with the investigation.”
Direct contrast
Hur, who served in Trump’s administration, directly compared the behavior of Biden and Trump. “Most notably,” he wrote in his final report, “after being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Mr Trump allegedly did the opposite. According to the indictment, he not only refused to return the documents for many months, but he also obstructed justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then to lie about it.”
The motive
Biden kept the classified information in notebooks, which he used to record information given to him during meetings. According to the BBC, he kept the information in order to help him write about his career in the White House.
Precedent set
Former President Ronald Reagan also kept books filled with notes including classified information. As the BBC noted, it was therefore not entirely unreasonable for Biden to believe he could do the same.
Meanwhile
On Feb 26, Sean Hannity asked Trump, “I can’t imagine you ever saying, ‘Bring me some boxes we brought back from the White House. I’d like to look at them.’” Trump responded, “I would do that.… I have the right to take stuff. You know, they ended up paying Nixon $18 million for what he had.”
Explicit change
After Nixon’s actions, Congress passed the Presidential Records Act. This legislation changed legal ownership of Presidential records from the president to the US government.
No precedent
“There has never been a case in American history in which a former official has engaged in conduct remotely similar to Trump’s,” Jack Smith’s team argued in its filing.
Totally unable
“The defendants have not identified anyone who has engaged in a remotely similar suite of willful and deceitful criminal conduct and not been prosecuted,” Smith’s team noted. “Nor could they.”
Innocent and guilty
Whereas Hur declined to prosecute Biden, noting he would likely be interpreted by a jury as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Smith’s team has repeatedly highlighted Trump’s “deceitful criminal conduct.”
Case timeline
Trump’s case began in early 2022, when National Archives officials announced they had recovered 15 boxes of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago. They said Trump had “improperly” taken the files.
The plot thickens
In June 2022, a Trump lawyer signed a statement confirming that Trump and his staff had returned all of the classified documents in Mar-a-Lago. However, when FBI agents raided the estate in August, they found over 100 classified documents.
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