Soooo. Here’s what we’ve learned from today’s hearing.
Biden removed classified documents and kept them in seven unsecured places. And we learned the reasons.
Power. He wanted to be known as a historical figure.
Money. He had an 8 million dollar book deal and he needed this info.
So it was greed. He also shared classified information with people who had no security clearance. And according to the special counsel, he won’t be charged because he has a bad memory. BUT. Since nobody is above the law, they are charging Trump for a similar thing. Folks, this is the kind of thing you might see in Russia or Venezuela. And is exactly why millions of Americans are convinced that the fix is in. If you can’t win fairly. Then cheat.
As soon as his ghostwriter found out about the investigation, he started deleting files. Something democrats love to do but are never held accountable for it. Another reason the fix is in.
From what I can tell, Biden is being judged for what he did in regards to the Presidential Records Act.
Biden was not changed. And Trump was not charged for anything he did in regards to the Presidential Records Act. Yet folks are still comparing the two instances.
Special Prosecutor Hur answered that question today, noting that many members of the Executive and Congressional branches leave office without having sorted fully through their papers.
Where things are different is the contrast between Biden’s team reporting they had material they shouldn’t have in their possession and working with the National Archives to return the material and Trump working with his team to lie about what they had, hide what they had and hung on to them.
Hur is doing Team MAGA no favors today with his strict legalisms. But he handed Team Dem a win with his unforced error by refusing to correct his own mistake when he claimed in the report that President Biden could not remember the date of his son Beau’s death. The interview transcript clearly contradicts Hur’s report.
If only I were Guvnah I would be shouting “Hur is a liar” but I’m not.
Senators and Vice Presidents are not covered under the Presidential Records Act. Stop making reference to a law that doesn’t apply to documents retained and removed before he ever became President. And the fact that he personally showed some of these documents to his ghost writer, also before he became President, shows that the claims his staff volunteered them first is a misrepresentation and has nothing to do with wrongful removal, wrongful retention and wrongful disclosure to persons not cleared and requiring access to the classified information as part of official duties. His ghost writer was not a government employee, did not have a security clearance and did not have an official (government service) need to know the information. Save the “look at the shiny object” distractions for those who don’t know 18 USC 793, and DODD 5143.01, DODM 5200.01 and EO 13526. The following is extracted from Part 4, EO 13526.
PART 4 – SAFEGUARDING
Sec. 4.1. General Restrictions on Access. (a) A person may have access to classified information provided that:
(1) a favorable determination of eligibility for access has been made by an agency head or the agency head’s designee;
(2) the person has signed an approved nondisclosure agreement; and
(3) the person has a need-to-know the information.
Just because you give the money back doesn’t excuse robbing the bank to get it in the first place.
It appears that the fact that one cooperated and the other did not cooperate is not a meaningful distinction in your opinion. Do you actually think labels are more important than actions?
One of the takeaways from today’s hearing is that “innocent” document removal happens quite frequently and is correctly easily when it is discovered. Hur said that only one case was similar to Trump’s and that was General Petraeus.
