(PartiallyPolitics.com) The White House disclosed that attorneys for President Joe Biden discovered what was described as a “small number” of classified documents at an office Biden used before becoming President.
The documents were from Biden’s time as the Vice President and had been turned over to the National Archive almost immediately after they were discovered in the office Biden held while serving as an honorary professor for the University of Pennsylvania in Washington.
The White House also revealed that it cooperates with the Department of Justice as it reviews the material that was discovered in November.
The similarities between Biden’s classified documents and Trump’s classified documents quickly drew the ire of the latter.
But Trump allies were quick to compare the handling of the Biden situation to that of former President Donald Trump.
The events are comparable, given it appears both men failed to adhere to the Presidential Records Act, requiring Presidents and Vice Presidents to turn over documents from their time in office for secure storage by the National Archive.
Yet, for that similarity, there are a host of differences which, some argue, warrant the varied responses.
The FBI Didn’t Retrieve The Biden Docs
When Biden’s attorneys found the documents — November 2, 2022 — they notified the National Archives immediately, who retrieved the documents the next day.
In Trump’s case, the National Archive had been hounding him for months to hand over any remaining classified documents he had in his possession.
After receiving a tip-off that Trump was holding the documents in his office in Mar-a-Lago, the FBI conducted a search and seizure.
The Number of Documents
Trump had hundreds of Classified documents in his possession that varied in degree of classification.
In 15 boxes, the FBI found 184 classified documents, including 15 labeled top secret.
Reports have surfaced that Biden’s attorneys only found ten documents labeled classified in a locked closet.
Trump Could Declassify Documents
In Trump’s defense, many of his allies have pointed out that the former President had a standing order to declassify the documents in his possession, but Biden didn’t have such power as Vice President. Therefore, they conclude that there should be more scrutiny of Biden’s documents since they were still classified when they were found in an office in Washington.
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