Nothing can compare between Trump and Biden? It doesn’t matter!

The battle over who is the most ill-intentioned still rages in Washington. This time around documents that may be secret, the danger of which we did not know with Trump, and it was not clear more with Biden. But no forgiveness: that’s what the voters seem to want.

Sometimes, it is not always easy to distinguish between obscurity and evidence. In this case, you don’t have to worry. Let’s start with Biden: His aides found government documents he should not have had at home; They promptly turned it over to the National Archives, which has a mandate to manage it all.

For months, Trump and his entourage resisted turning over such documents as requested by the National Archives; It took the intervention of the Department of Justice and then the FBI for them to finally be recovered.

A few papers for several boxes

In Biden’s case, ten classified documents were found in a Washington office he had occupied after he left the vice presidency in early 2017. Then, after more searches, a “small number” turned up in a garage and a room adjoining his residence in Delaware.

From Trump, the National Archives ended up receiving 15 boxes of material he brought with him when he left the White House. After discovering that the important files were missing, the archivists referred the case to the Ministry of Justice who, after dispatching investigators, managed to recover other documents, more than a hundred identified as secret or top secret.

Despite claims by Trump’s lawyers that nothing was left in his possession, a subsequent FBI search revealed Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s Florida residence, in August 2022 to collect an additional 13,000 documents, including one hundred “classified “. .

• Listen to Richard Martineau’s interview with TVA Nouvelles Washington correspondent Richard Latendresse on QUB Radio :

Mind energy

Let’s sum up: cooperation on the one hand, at first glance; strong resistance from the other. dozens of documents, etc., on one side; 15 boxes and an additional 13,000 documents, on the other hand.

As for the rationale, Joe Biden, who was questioned at a summit of North American leaders in Mexico, admitted he was surprised to learn these documents were there.

Donald Trump, when asked on Fox News last September, said that he — without anyone knowing — declassified everything when he was still in the White House: “There’s no process. When you’re president, you can declassify just by thinking about it.” command (by thinking about it). »

The Minister of Justice, Merrick Garland, decided to surrender in perfect integrity. As with Trump, he appointed a special prosecutor to oversee the documents discovered on the Bidens.

Meanwhile, Republicans, who are often elected in districts where Joe Biden remains largely unpopular, have promised full investigations into “all wrongdoing” by the president. To hell with common sense!

Trump and the Biden documents: the differences

Trump:

■ More than 300 documents, classified confidential and top secret, were confiscated from his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

■ She described some of the documents as “very sensitive” indicating the involvement of espionage operations in Iran and China.

■ Despite repeated requests from the National Archives, Trump has doggedly resisted returning the records, including ordering some boxes to be moved and hidden from government inspectors.

■ Investigators concluded that out of his vanity and desire to keep them as “trophies and trophies,” Trump brought the classified documents with him.

Biden:

■ Ten documents marked “secret” were found in an old study at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a “small number” in his private library at his residence in Wilmington, Delaware.

■ The documents relate to intelligence briefings on countries such as Iran, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

■ Once discovered, the documents were voluntarily turned over to the National Archives, which had not previously requested them.

■ The White House says these documents were withheld through negligence and negligence.