(UnitedVoice.com) – The discovery of classified documents in offices and a home held by President Joe Biden after his term as vice president has caused a political firestorm. Several prominent Republican voices are questioning why the Department of Justice (DOJ) has pursued such an obvious and shocking double standard in retrieving those records and investigating the sitting commander-in-chief compared to their tactics in dealing with former President Donald Trump.
GOP Leaders Protest
Republicans, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), James Comer (R-KY), Mike Johnson (R-LA), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), and Darrell Issa (R-CA), as well as former Vice President Mike Pence, have all loudly protested the hypocrisy of the situation. They say Biden had obviously possessed the documents for at least six years before his attorneys began turning them over to the National Archives in batches. Yet, the DOJ did not issue warrants or execute a raid on his properties to retrieve the records.
More classified documents Biden took from the Obama White House have been found at Biden's Delaware house next to his Corvette. Biden assures the public it's OK because his garage is locked…
So, when's the FBI raid?
— Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) January 12, 2023
Furthermore, both Scalise and Pence pointed out the DOJ’s preferential treatment of Biden by allowing attorneys without security clearances to continue searching for classified documents without FBI supervision. Comer and Jordan remain especially interested because they head oversight committees that evaluate whether federal agencies apply laws equally regardless of political affiliation.
Amid the Biden documents case, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan tells @MajorCBS there's concern a "double standard" is "starting to become evident" in how the DOJ handles classified documents cases.
Hear more from Jordan on the @TakeoutPodcast Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. pic.twitter.com/KgmeiilFdm
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 12, 2023
DOJ Declined Role in Search
People familiar with the matter said the DOJ weighed having FBI agents observe Biden’s attorneys’ search for additional classified documents, according to The Wall Street Journal. Yet, those same insiders pointed out several reasons why the DOJ might have made the decision.
Factors include the discrepancy between the alleged number of documents in each case. The search at Mar-a-Lago yielded more than 300 classified records, whereas Biden’s lawyers estimate they’ve found no more than a dozen in total.
Cooperation was another factor. Questions revolved around classified materials held by former President Trump after more than a year of negotiations with the National Archives leading to the search warrant served at Mar-a-Lago. By contrast, as soon as Biden’s attorney’s discovered classified records in the Penn Biden office, they voluntarily notified White House Counsel, who notified the National Archives.
Finally, observers pointed out that agency interference early in the case could weaken the DOJ’s position should Biden or his attorneys become uncooperative. Maintaining distance during the initial stages of discovery and investigation could give the DOJ and FBI more leverage to obtain warrants later, if necessary, according to sources who spoke to the WSJ.
Still, Attorney General Merrick Garland trod carefully, appointing US Attorney John Lausch, a Trump appointee, to evaluate the found documents and recommend whether Garland should appoint a special counsel to investigate. Lausch has since recommended the appointment of a special counsel, and Garland appointed Robert Hur, a former US Attorney for the District of Maryland and another Trump appointee, as the special counsel on January 12.
The Wall Street Journal said Hur is winding up cases as a defense lawyer for Gibson Dunn and expects to begin discovery on the Biden classified documents by the end of January, according to sources familiar with the case.
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