What are we to make of the discovery of classified government documents at the offices of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement? Or the documents found in the garage of Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware where he kept his 1967 Corvette? Or the discovery of five more classified documents at his Wilmington home? One answer is that Biden screwed up and now faces the biggest “scandal” of his presidency.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel, Robert Hur, to investigate the matter, so we will learn a lot more about what happened, who was involved, and whether Biden will be held accountable for the incidents. I am anxious to hear the full story, but not because I am curious, but because I want the whole incident to be over. It is only January 18, less than two years into Biden’s presidency, and we have a “scandal” that the country does not need.
When the facts are in, I expect we will know three things. First, Biden was in possession of documents he should not have had, in violation of federal law. Second, that he came into the possession of the documents as a result of the mishandling of documents by staff during the closing days of his administration, a circumstance that should be taken into consideration when determining whether Biden should be prosecuted. Finally, that Biden made matters worse after the documents were discovered in November by not to letting the public know about it.
It is this last fact that is most troubling, especially because Biden’s two years in office have otherwise been largely scandal-free. Unlike his predecessor, Biden did not lie about the incident, but instead did something worse—he covered it up. It appears that a decision was made not to release the news that the documents had been discovered to avoid harm to Democrats running in the 2020 mid-term elections.
Importantly, Biden reported the discovery of the documents to the government immediately after he discovered them. He was not under a legal obligation to report the discovery to the public. In deciding to delay release of information, Biden did something other presidents have done. That is one reason some Democrats characterize the Biden documents scandal as a “nothingburger.” Unfortunately, it is not.
Immediately after Biden reported the discovery of the documents, much of the liberal media sought to minimize the seriousness of Biden having classified documents by comparing his actions with those of Donald Trump. Trump removed more documents, we were told, and did not cooperate with the government when asked to return the documents. Some suggested that Trump was guilty (again) of obstruction of justice.
Dare I say that whatever Trump did is irrelevant to how Biden should be treated? The comparisons between Trump and Biden unintentionally reiterate the importance of applying the law fairly to both situations.
Unfortunately, Congressional Republicans have an agenda unrelated to fairly holding Biden accountable for having classified documents. Led by GOPers like Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and other MAGA Republicans, the incident will be used to suggest that Biden either purposely engaged in criminal conduct or is incompetent. Some Republicans will suggest Biden should be impeached as a result. Other Republicans want to use the incident to somehow exonerate Trump for the Mar-a-Lago documents. The theory in this latter case is “two wrongs make a right.”
Thus, the Republicans are weaponizing the Biden documents screw-up. I suspect few Republicans involved believe Biden purposely took the documents but will suggest otherwise. They will try to equivocate Biden’s and Trump’s actions, unfairly.
Thus, it appears that although President Biden clearly screwed up, he will experience consequences beyond the seriousness of the facts as we know them. This differs from Trump’s situation. It is what also makes it fair to say that Biden is being victimized. The documents made him vulnerable. The screw-up gives Republicans another opportunity to take a swing at Biden.
Let me make two predictions. Special counsel Robert Hur, a Republican, will determine the facts do not merit prosecution (or that he cannot indict a sitting president) and more harm will be done to Biden’s presidency by the Republican weaponization of the incident than by the incident itself. That is unfortunate. It says a lot about the party now in control of the U.S. House of Representatives and their sense of fairness.
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, and other subjects
Michael Pullen says
This is nothing new. Remember “Hillary’s emails!!!” and the chants of, “Lock her up!”. Then came Donald Trump, the most scandal-ridden President in American history, blackmailing Ukraine for political purposes using American defense aid provided by Congress, paid for by American tax dollars, inciting an insurrection in an attempt to overthrow the government.
What did Republicans do? “Nothing to see here.”
Deny, deflect and blame election officials and poll workers, volunteers helping their country conduct elections.
Lie, gaslight and grift, the Republican clown show will continue until Americans recognize that Dwight D. Eisenhower (R), Supreme Commander of Allied Forces In Europe in WW II and President of the United States in 1956, when he said:
“If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.‘
John Dean says
Thank you for an excellent comment and for reading the piece. You are right.
Philip Paul says
He forgot to say that he is a democrat and thus is giving a prejudicial point of view.
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the piece. I’m not sure who “he” is meant to refer to. For what it’s worth (and I suspect you disagree), I think the perspective I offered is fully objective.
Mike Davis says
Given what happened in New Mexico, attempted murder is the new Republican family value.
Wilson Dean says
Both Biden and Trump appear to be guilty of having taken classified documents belonging to the federal government and improperly storing them. It makes an important difference whether in one case or another, or both, this occurred due to sloppy staff work or a predetermined effort to steal the documents; we should wait until the investigations are complete before making a judgment. What seems imperative at this juncture is to put a process in place to ensure no box leaves the White House at the end of a President’s tenure without having been reviewed and approved by an independent authority, perhaps the National Archives or even the CIA. The removal of classified documents in both of these cases is simply unacceptable and should never happen again.
House Republicans seeking to attack President Biden on this issue should be held closely to the standard that former President Trump’s actions should be similarly scrutinized. Preliminary evidence suggests Biden’s team voluntarily identified the problem and surrendered the documents as they were found. Alternatively, evidence suggests President Trump attempted to delay returning the documents and cover up the fact that he retained more documents even after his legal team stipulated everything had been turned over. I’m not a lawyer, but obstruction of justice does appear to aptly apply to such action. Again, I am happy to wait until the final reports by the independent councils clarify both Biden’s and Trump’s responses to their situations. As President Nixon found out during Watergate, it’s the ocver up rather than the initial crime that is (and should be) more harshly punished.
Under these circumstances, do the House Republicans really want to go down the path of investigating Biden when there will be an obvious requirement to apply the same criteria to evaluating Trump’s behavior? That is a game only fools would play, and no doubt they will.
Paul Rybon says
Unlike Donald Trumps simple case this scandal seems to be growing legs when coupled with the Penn Center revelations and hunter Bidens laptop verification of is and his father’s involvement in payoffs, money laundering. And possible Chinese chicanery. It’s like peeing the layers of a rotten onion. Stay tuned.
John Dean says
Thanks for reading the piece. Unfortunately, you may be right that the “scandal” may be growing legs.
Also, I think you meant “peeling” in the last line of your comment.