September 27, 2023

"The federal investigation into President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents prior to becoming president has grown into a sprawling examination..."

"... of Obama-era security protocols and internal White House processes.... Sources who were present for some of the interviews, including witnesses, told ABC News that authorities had apparently uncovered instances of carelessness from Biden's vice presidency, but that -- based on what was said in the interviews -- it seemed to them that the improper removal of classified documents from Biden's office when he left the White House in 2017 was more likely a mistake than a criminal act.... Meanwhile, special counsel Smith's team has aggressively pursued former President Trump and two aides in his investigation into Trump's handling of classified records after leaving office.... In Biden's case, all of the classified documents found in locations associated with Biden were voluntarily provided to the government...."

46 comments:

peacelovewoodstock said...

The long knives of the deep state are coming out. Biden will not be the nominee for 2024.

tim in vermont said...

Remember when Joe Biden left classified documents in cardboard boxes in the home where his son, the unregistered foreign agent was living?

Remember when Joe Biden left classified documents at the ChiCom funded Penn-Biden Center, where those self-same Chinese nationals had unfettered access?

Pure accidents. The fact that large amounts of cash from foreign sources connected to these to locations poured into Biden controlled shell companies is not relevant, it's all carelessness.

Kai Akker said...

And while they're at it -- who killed Seth Rich?

And why does the FBI go on defying a judge's order to release the contents of Seth Rich's laptop?

Why do they want 66 years to do so?

Leland said...

the improper removal of classified documents from Biden's office when he left the White House in 2017 was more likely a mistake than a criminal act.

Not according to statute, but I guess with the two tier DoJ, it is never a criminal act if committed by a Democrat.

Dave Begley said...

Joe Biden has been been bribed with millions of dollars by foreigners. Why isn’t this story #1?

Given the invasion, wouldn’t it make sense to conclude that the Mexican cartels have bribed the Biden crime family? Pay the bribes in coke.

Enigma said...

The Obama administration shifted policy from Capitol Hill and congressional voting to secretive agency rules and end-runs around the laws as written. This followed the 2010 blowout election that rendered Obama nothing more than a powerless figurehead.

If Hillary had won in 2016, the D.C. snakes would have continued and likely flown under the radar. But Trump happened and pulled this into the spotlight, plus the Democrats started to attack Trump for far, far, far less serious problems then their actions of 2010-2016. Biden's handlers continued the agency rule fabrication system, and now attempt 10x more flagrant violations of the laws as written than Obama. (The courts routinely shoot Biden down.)

Biden himself was brought in as VP only to make a black president seem less threatening to moderate voters. He had no apparent interest in becoming president as of 2016, just in stuffing his pockets with $$$$$ in the shadows.

"Hoisted on their own petards" seem to be Althouse's theme of the day.

Roger Sweeny said...

It has hardly been a secret going back from before Nixon that way too many documents are "classified". Government officials know that and routinely treat lots of classified documents carelessly. How about a blanket pardon and then FIXING HE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM.

gilbar said...

it is NOT a crime, for a democrat to do something.. it IS a crime for a republican to do it
Great system we have!

Meanwhile resident Biden's dog has bitten its ELEVENTH person.. Try THAT republican dogs!

Oh Yea said...

"...was more likely a mistake than a criminal act."

"we found a handful of documents" that had been "filed in the wrong place" and that he was cooperating with the National Archives and the Justice Department.

In Biden's case, all of the classified documents found in locations associated with Biden were voluntarily provided to the government, Biden's lawyers said at the time.

So taking and carelessly storing classified documents for who knows how many years is cool as long as you return them when caught.

tim maguire said...

voluntarily provided to the government

Sure, because, as president, he could see them any time he wanted. He wasn't giving up anything, merely moving them from one building to another. (This observation does not address the rather generous use of the term "voluntary.")

Tom T. said...

This is a trial balloon to see if they can throw Barack over, claiming that his administration was just so loosey-goosey with classified handling that Biden thought it was okay to store clearly-market classified documents in an unsecured garage.

Mr Wibble said...

In Biden's case, all of the classified documents found in locations associated with Biden were voluntarily provided to the government...."

He kept classified documents in his home for decades. It doesn't matter that he suddenly decided to cough them up now.

I still think that after the FBI raid on Mar-A-Lago, the DoJ quietly went around to a bunch of politicos and told them, "we know that you have classified docs. Turn them over." This was only "voluntary" in the sense that the FBI already knew that the documents were somewhere in Biden's possession, and gave him a chance to keep some dignity. Hence why two of Biden's lawyers were sent to clean out a storage closet at the University, and look through the boxes there.

Wince said...

The message from on high: “Look busy, spread blame widely.”

VP and senator had no right to take the documents in the first place, and therefore no legal argument to retain them.

tim in vermont said...

Remember when Hillary's careless storage and outright destruction of Federal records was called "extreme carelessness," but somehow not the "gross negligence" that would have made it a criminal act, conviction for which would have disqualified her from Federal office? This is how the Department of Just Us works.

MadisonMan said...

It's always a mistake when Democrats do it. Only Republicans are criminals.

Jake said...

Just Joe being Joe.

Stick said...

Jerk off movement.
*eyeroll*

tim in vermont said...

Remember when Sen Menendez D-NJ wanted to set up a meeting with Joe Biden, so he emailed Hunter?

Chuck said...

Regular reminder that Trump wrongfully retained/possessed hundreds of Presidential records and classified documents FOR WHICH HE HAS NOT BEEN CRIMINALLY CHARGED.

Trump has been charged with the unlawful possession of documents including classified documents which he held after lengthy communications with the National Archives, the FBI and the Department of Justice, and in defiance of a subpoena. But before that, Trump returned boxes and boxes of materials to the National Archives. And, again, never charged for that retention.

In order to get indicted for his documents, Trump had to be unusually Trumpy. Lying to his attorneys, asking his attorneys and staff to lie for him, moving boxes and hiding them, trying to ditch security camera info, etc., etc.

But you don't need me to tell you about this; there is going to be a trial where it will all come out, and Trump will have a chance to defend himself with any relevant, probative evidence.

See y'all in court.

Dude1394 said...

Neither Biden leaving documents in the garage or Clinton having a server with classified information just didn’t mean anything by it so, nevermind.

Trump on the other hand with documents in locked room known by the government, REALLY MEANS SOMETHING. What a farce, no wonder so few trust ANYTHING the DOJ or the corrupt FBI state.

I am really hoping to be on a jury some day where the fbi is giving evidence.

D.D. Driver said...

Mistake or criminal act?

Pretty sure these are not mutually exclusive.

Paul said...

Obama is the real president now... Biden is just a crooked puppet for O.

Iman said...

Look who they give the benefit of the doubt to.

Iman said...

Crazy Joey “Bananas” Biden.

rcocean said...

Oh, it was just carelessness. Y'know how old joe was, he's just put documents anywhere. haha.

Meanwhile, Trump could be put in jail, for mishandling documents as an Ex-POTUS. Biden's Gestapo raided his house and confiscated hundreds of items, most of which were NOT classifed documents. And then Stalinist Merrick Garland charged him with a serious crime, and will try to put him in Jail.

And chances are, Trump will end up in prison.

PB said...

ABC news. No bias.

Bob Boyd said...

The Democrats investigated themselves and guess what happened?
They looked and looked and looked. They were sprawling all over the place looking, but they couldn't find anything. It was just a mix up. The movers took Joe's Penthouse Magazine collection to the National Archives and they took the classified documents to his house. Coulda happened to anyone. Next time they promise to write on the boxes with a sharpy. Lesson learned. Sorry about that.

Bruce Hayden said...

“.... Meanwhile, special counsel Smith's team has aggressively pursued former President Trump and two aides in his investigation into Trump's handling of classified records after leaving office.... In Biden's case, all of the classified documents found in locations associated with Biden were voluntarily provided to the government...."

Total BS

First big difference is that Trump was POTUS, with plenary declassification authority, as well as the power to determine what are Presidential records, and what are personal papers. FJB was VP, with neither power. The President can delegate full declassification authority on his VP, but as far as we know, only GW Bush did that, to Dick Cheney. That means that classified material in the possession of a former President are presumably declassified and legally in his possession, but presumably illegal for anyone else, not currently in the government, including former VPs (FJB) and Secretaries of State (Crooked Hillary).

As a possibly lesser difference, Trump’s documents that contained documents still marked as classified were stored in a padlocked room, guarded by Secret Service, who all, by the nature of their job, had proper security clearances, while Crooked Hillary’s classified documents were stored on her illegal server in a bathroom, and then on in server farm thousands of miles away, and Biden’s were stored in boxes around his house and in his garage, with his Corvette - the same house used by his son as the destination of bribe money from foreign countries. As noted above - the standard of care is intentional or gross negligence - both Clinton and Biden probably intentionally, or at least grossly negligently, removed and stored their illicit classified documents. Trump did not.

Third, outside of the binder of documents, formally ordered declassified by Trump concerning the misfeasance and malfeasance of the Counterintelligence units at DOJ and FBI, concerning their fabrication of RussiaGate, Crossfire Hurricane, and the Mueller investigation, the remainder of the documents marked classified found (secured by the Secret Service) at MAL, were apparently found filed chronologically with other related documents in boxes from when his desk was routinely cleared between meetings and phone calls in the Oval Office, throughout his term of office. There were hundreds of boxes, which had to be reviewed one by one, page by page. The DOJ official requesting the documents marked as classified denied the requests by Trump’s attorneys for additional time, as well as for rolling document production, then signed the search warrant, and the indictment. That official was Jay Bratt, Smith’s Deputy Special Counsel, and not coincidentally the branch chief of the DOJ Counterintelligence unit implicated by that binder of documents formally declassified by Trump. In short, it was a setup from Day 1, with Bratt knowing that Trump had documents still marked classified, because they implicated his organization, and then refused any sort of compromise to get wade through the hundreds of boxes of documents.

Importantly, even if the government could prove that Trump shouldn’t have the documents (they probably can’t), they won’t be able to prove that Trump retained these specific documents intentionally or grossly negligently. Last time he probably touched any of them was when he was in the Oval Office, and an assistant boxed them up. The DOJ knows this. The plan, all along, was to catch him on process crimes, hence Bratt’s refusal to give Trump’s lawyers sufficient time to comply with his request, then subpoenas.

GRW3 said...

Voluntarily... blah, blah, blah. None of that changes the fact that Biden did not have the right to declassify the documents he had lying around, and Trump did.

Levi Starks said...

Let me clear this up.
Biden can never be a criminal,
Trump can never not be a criminal.

Jupiter said...

"In Biden's case, all of the classified documents found in locations associated with Biden were voluntarily provided to the government...."

It's not stealing if you give it back when you get caught.

tim maguire said...

Mr Wibble said...He kept classified documents in his home for decades. It doesn't matter that he suddenly decided to cough them up now.

He "voluntarily" turned them in after he got caught.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

This is the soft-touch attempt to push Joe out. If the media were serious- we would be hearing about Joe's family international grifting schemes... involving Ukraine and China - and the tax payer money laundering and pay-to-play that ended up in their 20 shell companies giving the family millions of dollars.

Joe is not going anywhere. He is the corrupt powers-that-be- husk-puppet. Classified docs? lol - no one really cares.

He is the sweet old man who will install communism.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The media still refuse to talk about Biden's corruption while he was VP.

why - Obama. That's why.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Both Clinton and Biden spent much of their time in the Obama administration lining their pockets in secret.


Vile cretins.

Aggie said...

You want to k own who the nominee will be? Find out who Obama, Valerie Jarret, and Susan Ruce are having lunch with.

RNB said...

"[I]t seemed to them that the improper removal of classified documents from Biden's office when he left the White House in 2017 was more likely a mistake than a criminal act." Way back in my career working for the Air Force, I had to handle Special Access Required (SAR) documentation. At the time, it was made explicitly clear to me that carelessness resulting in improper removal of said documents would not protect me from criminal charges for any such action.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

There is no investigation into Biden. The whole purpose of this special counsel is to find a way to paint old Joe as a victim. Their only decision is determining the best timing for his exoneration. Everyone with an IQ over three knows this is kabuki theater.

Rabel said...

"Sources who were present for some of the interviews, including witnesses..."

This is a planted story from inside the Biden camp. Why?

Greg the Class Traitor said...

the Obama Administration was the most corrupt Presidential Administration in us history.

Biden's trying herd to top that, but hasn't had enough time yet to do so

Skeptical Voter said...

Mixing up a bucket of whitewash for Biden.

James K said...

“Careless” Remember that’s what they said about Sandy Berger. His desk is really messy! Which somehow explained how he had documents stuffed in his socks.

tim in vermont said...

So wait a minute. Menendez D-NJ was holding up F-16s for Turkey, and Turkey has said that unless they get the F-16s, Sweden does not get into NATO. Biden wants Sweden in NATO, so his weaponized DoJ takes Menendez out of the picture, while pretending that this proves that the DoJ is not politicized.

Josephbleau said...

Father Abraham said you can't fool all the people all the time. No Problem! You don't have to fool the people, that is not necessary. All you need to do is to censor the press, lie, and brazen out the little truth that does escape. People don't vote for Beiden because they think he is honest and incorruptible. Rather because he is not, and they share in the spoils.

Josephbleau said...

“Careless” Remember that’s what they said about Sandy Berger."

A great Limbaugh meme, "Sandy Burglar."

Ampersand said...

Biden has cooperated with a government that he controls. So Biden is therefore guiltless. I understand.