The classified documents that bring Biden closer to a “Trumpist” scandal

US President Joe Biden finds himself closer than ever to a scandal of “Trumpist” proportions after the revelation this week that classified documents from his time as vice president have been found in several private offices and in his own home.

The case, although with important differences, is reminiscent of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), who is being investigated by the Department of Justice for accumulating classified documents at his residence in Mar-a-Lago (Florida).

Some Republicans, in fact, have tried to equate both situations.

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, assured this Thursday that the US Congress should investigate the discovery of Biden’s classified documents, whom he also accused of using the Department of Justice to harass former President Trump.

The reality is that neither Trump nor Biden should have had in their possession classified documents from their respective Administrations, since the law requires that all presidential records be delivered to the National Archives.

But simply the possession of these documents in itself is not a crime, if it is not shown that they were knowingly hidden.

This is where one of the key differences between the two cases lies: it was the lawyers themselves Joe Biden who notified the authorities that they had found classified documents among the president’s possessions.

In the case of Trumpit took a controversial raid of the fbi in Mar-a-Lago to recover a hundred documents, some of them classified as top secret.

The National Archives, in charge of safeguarding all presidential documents, had been trying to recover records that the former president had taken to his personal residence for more than a year.

For this reason, Trump is also facing an investigation for possible obstruction of Justice, which makes his case much more complex than that of Biden.

So far, the authorities have given no indication that the latter was aware that he had classified documents in his possession, something that the president himself seemed to confirm on Tuesday.

What is reproached to Biden It’s the lack of transparency. The first batch of documents was discovered in November, just before the midterm elections, in an office the president used between 2017 and 2020, before launching his campaign for the presidency.

The White House has waited until this week, however, when the news appeared in the media, to confirm it – although they did notify the Department of Justice then.

From the first discovery, attorneys at Biden Documents from his time as Barack Obama’s vice president (2009-2017) have been found again in another office used by the president and more recently in the garage of his Delaware home.

The recent findings have prompted the United States Attorney General, merrick garlandto appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the case.

Garland also appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the Mar-a-Lago document discovery, which is currently trying to determine whether Trump knowingly took classified records and obstructed justice by failing to turn all of them over to the National Archives when requested.

The controversy over the documents Biden It comes at a sweet time for the president, who is seeing his approval ratings soar as the US economy appears to come out of the worst of escalating inflation, and when many expect him to announce his 2024 presidential run.

His party also managed to exceed expectations in the November elections, in which the US media predicted significant losses: although the Republicans managed to wrest control of the Lower House from them, the Democrats took an extra seat in the Senate, where they hold a majority .

This Thursday, during a press conference and at the insistence of journalists, Biden He has hinted that he will soon give more details about the discovery of the classified documents.

Source: EFE