Parallels with Trump? – Finding documents puts pressure on Biden

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Explosive find: Secret government documents from his time as Vice President have been discovered in a private office of US President Joe Biden. For Republicans, the case is a godsend – the discovery is reminiscent of the scandal that ex-President Donald Trump caused by hoarding classified files over the summer. But there are important differences.

As the White House announced, the documents were found vacating Biden’s offices at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C. in November. Biden used the downtown office space after leaving the vice president’s office in 2017 until about 2020, it said.

According to the White House, the documents were discovered in a locked box when Biden’s personal lawyers began clearing the office. The documents were immediately transferred to the National Archives. “The documents were discovered by the president’s lawyers,” said Richard Sauber, Biden’s special adviser. The documents had not been the subject of any previous investigation or examination of the archives. Biden’s personal attorneys would now work with the National Archives and the Justice Department.

White House: hand over documents yourself
According to broadcaster CNN, the documents found are about a dozen documents, including papers with the highest level of confidentiality. It remained unclear what the documents contained and how far Biden knew they were in the box. Unsurprisingly, the White House now insists that it found and handed over the documents itself. The goal should be to present this case as completely different from Trump’s dispute over seized classified documents.

Former President Trump is under investigation for taking secret government documents to his private estate after he left the White House. Trump could have been criminalized for prosecution. The FBI searched the Florida property in August and seized several classified documents, some of which are also subject to the highest degree of secrecy. It is still unclear whether Trump can ultimately be indicted. The case caused quite a stir in the United States over the summer – a special detective is now looking into it. Trump continues to dismiss the whole thing as a “political witch hunt”. Biden called Trump’s behavior in the matter “irresponsible”.

Republicans are etching at Biden
After the find in Biden’s office, Trump and the Republicans are now fighting back. “When will the FBI raid Joe Biden’s many homes, maybe even the White House?” Trump wrote on Truth Social, a network he co-founded. Republicans also questioned the timing of the discovery of the documents. “Really? They just found it after all these years?” CNN quoted newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as saying. Party member Byron Donalds expressed a similar view: “Why weren’t these documents found until six years later?”

Unlike Biden, Trump’s case was preceded by a dispute with the National Archives, which holds presidential documents. It spent months trying to get papers from Trump’s term in office. Trump’s lawyers have finally handed over documents. However, officials suspected that Trump or his team continued to withhold documents, which is not allowed. According to the search warrant, there were also concerns that defense information could be lost and that documents could be destroyed or altered to impede investigations. Many American observers point out that the cases of Biden and Trump cannot be equated.

Many questions still unanswered
Trump later repeatedly argued that he himself had lifted the secrecy of the documents. Sitting presidents have far-reaching powers to disclose information and break secrecy. But it shouldn’t be as easy as Trump makes it out to be in this case. There is a formal procedure for releasing documents. Vice presidents also have the authority to release documents, but to a different extent than presidents. In Biden’s case, many questions remain unanswered.

Source: Krone

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