Today, Robert Hur gave Americans a four-hour televised reminder – courtesy of congressional Republicans – that President Biden did the right thing by self-reporting the discovery of classified documents and immediately returning them to the government – while Donald Trump is facing 40 felony counts related to his classified documents case alone, including on obstruction of justice and mishandling of classified materials.
In case you missed it: Here are the facts on why President Biden was cleared while Donald Trump was indicted for multiple felonies:
Rep. Lofgren: “The president allowed your team to seize and review all of the notebooks you found … That’s in stark contrast to ex-President Trump’s case. He obstructed and diverted all the investigations.”
Rep. Nadler: “Donald Trump is charged with willfully retaining classified documents and conspiring to conceal those documents, and he’s facing additional charges for lying to investigators. … President Biden is not facing a single charge … because after reviewing 7 million documents and interviewing nearly 150 witnesses, including the president himself, you could not prove that he had committed a crime.”
Rep. Raskin: “Unlike President Biden … after being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Trump allegedly did the opposite. According to the indictment, he not only refused to return the documents for months, but he also obstructed justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then to lie about it.”
Rep. Escobar: “Did President Biden ever bring tens of thousands of people into spaces where he stored classified material?”
Hur: “Not to my knowledge.”
[…]
Rep. Escobar: “Did President Biden ever direct his staff to move documents so that you or the FBI could not find them?”
Hur: “We did not identify evidence of that.”
[…]
Rep. Escobar: “That’s in stark contrast to Donald Trump. President Biden did not obstruct your investigation, he was fully compliant … you were able to fully and totally exonerate him of any criminal wrongdoing.”
Rep. Lieu: “Did you find that President Biden had directed his lawyer to lie to the FBI?”
Hur: “We identified no such evidence.”
Rep. Lieu: “Did you find that President Biden directed his lawyer to destroy classified documents?”
Hur: “No.”
Rep. Lieu: “Did you find that President Biden directed his personal assistant to move boxes of documents to hide them from the FBI?”
Hur: “No.”
Rep. Lieu: “Did you find that President Bdien directed his personal assistant to delete security camera footage after the FBI asked for that footage?”
Hur: “No.”
Rep. Lieu: “Did you find that President Biden showed a classified map related to an ongoing military operation to a campaign aide who did not have clearance?”
Hur: “No.”
Rep. Lieu: “Did you find that President Biden engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct justice?”
Hur: “No.”
Rep. Lieu: “Did you find that President Biden engaged in a scheme to conceal?”
Hur: “No.”
Rep. Lieu: “Each of the activities I just laid out describe what Donald Trump did in his willful mishandling of classified information in his criminal efforts to deceive the FBI. In contrast, President Biden handed over documents without delay and complied fully with investigators.”
Rep. Dean: “You have a copy of your report today, don’t you, in front of you? Will you read a portion of it for me … would you read the next few sentences?”
Hur: “Unlike the evidence involving Mr. Biden, the allegations set forth in the indictment of Mr. Trump, if proven, would present serious aggravating facts.”
Rep. Dean: “Keep going.”
[…]
Hur: “Most notably, after being given multiple chances to return classified
documents and avoid prosecution, Mr. Trump allegedly did the opposite.”
Rep. Dean: “Keep going.”
Hur: “According to the indictment, he not only refused to return the documents for many months, but he also obstructed justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then to lie about it.”
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