>

He’s not. Fucking political science students can spot the difference in these situations, let alone law students and lawyers.
In my limited experience, it's far more likely I lose a folder that I don't think has anything important in it than leaving my job with my vehicles full of their property. >

By their own standards, Biden should face no consequences. >

Biden can just declassify them. >

With his mind! >

With his presidential authority, using proper processes :) >

He didn’t have Presidential authority though, he was V.P. At the time >

He does now >

And those documents promptly returned without issue or argument. >

They were probably placed there. It’s too convenient >

Biden’s an old man and he apparently used the space as an office. It’s more likely he had them from his days as VP and forgot them in that cabinet. The fact that NARA didn’t even know they were missing is likely that the documents weren’t important regardless of their classification designation and once found they were notified and returned posthaste. Biden’s team played this by the book and it likely won’t go anywhere. >

"On the day of this discovery, November 2, 2022, the White House Counsel's Office immediately notified the National Archives." >

And yet the media is fuckin frothing at the mouth to make this story look like Biden did the same thing Trump did >

Doesn’t matter if Biden did the same thing as Trump…..if it’s our understanding that taking classified information and keeping it as a civilian is a crime then Biden committed a crime it doesn’t have to equal Trumps crime. >

Intent. Trump' s is indisputable. There doesn't seem to be any at all here. That makes all the difference legally. >

I Don’t think so. We can’t really speak for Biden’s intent, and if you get drunk and run someone over, it’s still a crime even if doing so was not your intent. I don’t believe the law would make an exception for intent, Think that will be Biden’s defense? “I didn’t intend to take classified information”? >

Intent absolutely matters in criminal law. That’s why there’s mens rea (mental state) and actus reus (actions) requirements depending on the crime. What you described (a drunk person hitting someone in a vehicle) would be manslaughter as opposed to murder and would carry less harsh penalties precisely because of the intent or lack thereof.
If we take the story at its word that the Biden Administration promptly returned the documents and notified the Archives, then it’s completely different from the Trump situation where he’s defied requests to return the documents, then attests he returned all the documents while the Archives’ receipts say otherwise, adding on obstruction to the situation.
If Biden committed a crime, he should be punished appropriately. Based on the current facts, this doesn’t meet the same prima facie offense as the Trump situation. But we’ll need more information. >

Old documents found that nobody remembered or knew were there until they found them and when they did they immediately followed the proper channels to get them to the national archives? Doesn't seem like much of a story here. Maybe there is more to it, but it sure seems like it isn't nefarious to me. >


Maybe there is more to it, but it sure seems like it isn't nefarious to me.

To the reasonable mind, that does seem to be the case. However, it is easy to imagine how an intellectually dishonest group or individual would twist the facts in a manner that would result in the target audience to eternally rage over this story. >

Or how the media want to gin up a tempest in a teapot by screaming BOTH SIDES ARE THE SAME! Bullshit! 
Biden follows the actual and moral laws while Trump and his backers piss on the constitution and the laws that govern us. >

Look they should not have had it extracted and it's a breach, it's wrong and they should explain it. It would be you, or worse, me a citizen of Hong Kong, found in possession of classified US docs, we would not be treated politely so...
What is it doing in a think tank? Is it a usual occurrence and a normal mishap ? It's ofc nothing in comparison to Trump, but is it something I can read myself if I join that think tank ? Was it secured in proportion of its damage potential and if not, why ? >

And they were self-reported and returned. >

Only after they were “discovered”. >

Trump had the same option to return them after they were ‘discovered’ and he fucking didn’t.  That’s the difference between legal and illegal and it’s not hard to see. >

It’s a shame that like Trump he’s also refusing to turn them over to the Archives and failed to tell the Feds when his attorney found them. Oh wait… >

At first you confused me but exactly . This is the response you have when you got nothing to hide . >

Well nothing to hide past you know 6 years of hiding them. Biden was never going to confess, Biden’s lawyers just didn’t want to get caught up in it. Had the lawyers not found them, Biden would still be hiding them. >

Okay Biden had 10 classified documents trump had over 300 including a set of ultra sensitive documents with highest level of top secret classifications . A range of documents covering the nsa fbi cia and tried to cover it up after he got raided him and his team . And to this day is not cooperating. There’s already an investigation into bidens documents let’s see what facts come of it but trump red or blue is bad for America . >

Oh god here we go. >

This sucks. If he did anything wrong, I'm perfectly okay with him facing charges for it. The problem is that the headline, not necessarily the story, is going to be fodder for months to come. >

Fun fact, he didn't do anything wrong yet Republicans will beat this horse til after it's dead. >

His office literally reported it as soon as they discovered it...but it will somehow be worse >

Wow i cant believe biden illegally took the most secret level documents, stuffed them in his personal desk at a golf resort, then hid them when the government asked for them, then refused to give them back so long that the government to fucking raid his house to take them back, at which point he still refused to give over all of the documents and made his lawyers lie to the government that he did so. Oh wait, he didnt do that? >

Do you think Biden taking classified documents with him when he left office as V.P. And keeping them for 6 years before his lawyers found them is a crime?  We keep comparing him to Trump, but let’s not…..as a stand alone incident is taking classified documents a crime? >

Are you a lawyer? >

He’s not. Fucking political science students can spot the difference in these situations, let alone law students and lawyers. >

Oh boy. Here comes the defense of Trump.  "Everyone does it!" >

Nah, Trump whined that Biden wasn’t having his home raided, despite the docs not being in Biden's home. 
Facts never matter to fascists. >

Just for funsies, I looked at the comments in the Fox News article on this story.
I saw exactly what I expected: equivocation this with Trumps classified documents trove

Was he selling it to a foreign government?
Where was the FBI raid?
If the DOJ doesn't file charges against Biden for possession of classified documents, they should drop the charges against Trump that simple.

It is simple, but the posters of these gems still managed to miss it entirely.
Bidens documents were not being requested by the National Arcdidn't. They were turned over when they were discovered.
Trumps documents were repeatedly requested by the Archives. He refused to turn them over. Then he turned over some and had his lawyers lie about whether there were more. He was given many opportunities to come clean. He didnt.
Trump even justified taking them using a declassificstion theory that his own DOJ argued against in court (and they WON)
It's like the difference between forgetting to forward mail addressed to the previous tenant of your home and opening that mail and committing identity theft.
One is omission, but the other is goddamn intentional >

Yeah, but it’s useful from an argumentation standpoint to ignore all the differences and assert that it’s completely the same.
Like, if you found a $100 bill on the l ground that turns out had been stolen versus robbing the bank. In both instances you are in possession of stolen money, but those aren’t even close to the same thing. >

I bet this will be the first thing republicans will impeach him for >

They will try. >

Yes the house will probably impeach him but not senate. >

House impeaches, Senate convicts. Impeachment is a simple majority, conviction is two-thirds. >

“The documents were discovered when Biden's personal attorneys "were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C.," Sauber said. He added the White House was cooperating with the Justice Department and the National Archives.”
They found files, they returned them, no problem, but here come the false equivalencies. >

I was just posting myself that the timing of this “news release” is interesting >

Honestly, it is more convenient it wasn't discussed during the mid terms. >

Oh I’m glad it wasnt.  I think that’s the “norm” that was broken by Jim Comey when he announced major news before the Presidential election that was so upsetting for everyone.  But it makes me wonder how the decision gets made, by whom, and when we are allowed to receive these “January surprises” >

That is the other right wing talking point that the white house has been suppressing the news from social media. This is going to get way worse before it fets better. >

I watched the ABC World News Tonight program with David Muir, and it was the opening story.  That’s how I learned about it.  We are in crazy times if people are bitching not about whats leading on the evening news, but whether or not it has been algorithmed by social media. >

More people get their news from social media than from a television station though. This is like saying it would be ok to supress television news because it is also printed in a news paper. >

I mean but it’s a difference his own council is turning them over and working with them directly . Trump was hiding them and is trying not to cooperate… >

Trump took them with intent to keep them.  He then lied about return them all and obstructed the DoJ. 
Biden discovered them and returned them without notice.  He could have burned them and no one would have known. >

Let's also not forget that one of reasons the FBI was notified about Trump was that he was allegedly showing off some of those documents to people at his tacky club. >

Any developing info about this?
So far, 10 documents have been found. And returned to the DOJ without a paper of notice.
(I hear that the Biden is even co-operating on the investigation) >

If the law was broken then prosecute however ill point this out.  Trumps documents werent supposed to be kept AFTER his presidency. He was asked about them and denied it.  They sent people to get docs and he fought it. But the point is when a president LEAVES office he she has to return documents.  Presidents IN office have documents wherever they are period.  And if biden wasnt president id be all over prosecuting him too.  The issue doesnt apply as hes in office >

The obstruction was always going to what Trump was charged with. >

And right here is the problem with today's media: Sensationalizing every story for clicks makes everything seem equally bad & as if both sides are the same... when they most certainly are not. Biden's situation was just an oversight discovered by his people & immediately reported, whereas Trump purposely hoarded classified documents & possibly sold them to other nations. Not even close. Fuck the for-profit media. >

We decided presidents couldn't be charged with a crime, right? So nothing should happen to Biden according to republican logic. >

So I'm going to assume all the people that vehemently defended Trump for his flagrantly stolen docs are going to do the same for Biden right? They certainly won't be hypocrites and try to use this to unseat him. (takes large sip of water and checks the comment section) >

Wait, the docs were found after he lost the election. How was he unseated? >

If somebody broke the law, prosecute them... just like Trumpy! >

Except when they're president. Then they're immune, just like Trumpy. >

At least he’s not trying to declassify them telepathically. >

But he could >

It was 10 documents not 30 banker boxes. >

The article says "nearly 10" so probably more like 8-9 documents. >

Great, this is all we're going to hear about now from the right despite its differences from the Trump case. >

In these kinds of situations, it's important that you stick with your sense of right and wrong. Don't make excuses because it's politically convenient in the short term. But at the same time don't shut your brain off and say the actions of one person is exactly the same as the actions of another. 
If Biden did something illegal, he should face consequences. If Trump did something illegal, he should face consequences. Listen to the facts (not the political spin from the right or the left) and make an objective conclusion when you see all of the evidence. If what we know so far is pretty much the extent of it then this seems more like an error than anything malicious and is orders of magnitude less severe than what Trump is dealing with. An inconvenient muddying of the waters but not the end of the world. At the same time, if more info comes out, don't dismiss it. Apply your ethical standards equally to politicians. 
With everything we know about both men, I'm hopeful this is nothing but I'm not going to rely on what we think we know about both men to draw a final conclusion. Keeping an open mind and truly caring about accountability won't cost you a thing. See how things play out and if the worst case scenario somehow comes to pass and Biden did exactly what Trump did, be prepared to deal with that too. I don't have any reason to believe that's the case, at this point, but don't dismiss it as 100% impossible either. >

Actually, the issue is the seriousness of having classified documents in ones possession. From what I understand Trump had them secured and Biden left them laying around in an old office. that is dangerous. It's much more likely Biden's documents could fall into bad actors hands than trumps documents. >

Trump didn't have them secured.  The DoJ had to tell them to secure the docs until they could come and get them. >

I'm pretty sure Mar-a-lago is a lot harder to get into than some abandoned office. >

Biden hadn't been in that office in 2-3 years. Found by lawyers when they were cleaning up. You can't make this sh!t up. Classified documents that were legally supposed to be returned years prior. And a VP cannot declassify documents. 🤣 >

Did you respond to the right comment? You said it was hard to get into Mar-a-lago, and I, like many others, responded with an article showing it was quite easy to get near Trump in MAL. You then changed the topic entirely here. >

Nope, I've been talking about Biden's office where the files were found from the jump. >

No you weren't. You specifically said:

I'm pretty sure Mar-a-lago is a lot harder to get into than some abandoned office.

As such, it is perfectly reasonable for them to respond directly to the argument that you are making. 
As such, it is also perfectly reasonable for them to call you out when you try to argue that that was not an attempt at comparing the two retentions of classified records or the ease with which they can be accessed. >

Yes, but I started talking about Biden and files in his office, that was the OPs post. You are not going to get me to believe that Biden had these files more secure than Trump. Did he even remember they were still there? >

The house republicans are gonna blow this up beyond ridiculous levels. >

Here come the republicans. >

There certainly has been an activation.. >

§1924. Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material
(a) Whoever, being an officer, employee, contractor, or consultant of the United States, and, by virtue of his office, employment, position, or contract, becomes possessed of documents or materials containing classified information of the United States, knowingly removes such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
(b) For purposes of this section, the provision of documents and materials to the Congress shall not constitute an offense under subsection (a).
(c) In this section, the term “classified information of the United States” means information originated, owned, or possessed by the United States Government concerning the national defense or foreign relations of the United States that has been determined pursuant to law or Executive order to require protection against unauthorized disclosure in the interests of national security.
(Added Pub. L. 103–359, title VIII, §808(a), Oct. 14, 1994, 108 Stat. 3453; amended Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, §4002(d)(1)(C)(i), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1809.) >

Based on the wording of subsection (a), not sure what Biden did was necessarily illegal. You might be able to argue it was negligence though. >

It’s also entirely possible it wasn’t even Biden who brought the records. >

It's too bad the details and true comparison of how Biden handled this versus how Trump handled his case will be lost to the fanfare of the title of this story. >

It's cool. They were declassified by thinking about declassified them >

Day 1 of GOP House rule... smh >

Thought this article was interesting to see how Biden handles classified documents versus Trump. Not trying to blame or take sides, just an interesting comparison of situations. >

Yes, one locks them up in his house, another leaves them behind sitting around in an office. >

One didn't lock them in his house.  He left them unlocked and lied about having them. >

They were in Mar-a-lago. Good luck trying to get to those. Another left them in his abandoned office. >

You're trying so hard to push that ”bOtH sIdEs!" shit but it's just not gonna work. Lol but it's certainly amusing watching you try, so do continue. Lol >

I don't have to. Biden just shot himself in the foot. It will be hilarious to watch this play out. The hypocrisy isn't lost on me. >

Nah, Biden will be just fine. Trump, however, is still every bit as f*cked as he was a day ago. 🤷 >

At least Biden can use the insanity defense. >

I'm a Dem. The AG needs to appoint a special counsel. I won't be an apologist for this. Investigate and get testimony.
Right and wrong doesn't vary depending on the team jersey someone's wearing.  Pity it's so rare to see that consistency from GOP supporters. >

Garland has already opened an investigation into this and appointed a federal prosecutor or DA (cant recall which) to lead the investigation. >

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch (a holdover Trump appointee) is investigating, but it needs a special counsel.
I'm cracking up that people are downvoting my comment.  Kids, that's what consistency looks like. >

People will not believe you on reddit, "kids" >

But did Obama declassify them with his mind? >

....and now Donald trump will get off scott free >

Not sure how Trump is relevant here.  The story is about Biden. >

They are trying to hide behind Trump so it looks like what Biden did was no big deal. The whole issue with the documents is that they are classified and dangerous to have locked up in someone's house let alone being left behind in an office. So they deflect and make the issue about how trump handled the situation and not the seriousness of them being classified material. >

It is a big fucking difference, and folks are easily predicting what the Republican talking points are. 
Someone fucked up, but that's between NARA and Biden's team that vetted the documents. Unlike Trump, Biden wasn't taking shit and ignoring NARA. >

It's an investigation. They have no requirement to let you or I know anything. It's in the hands of the US Attorney's office. White House was notified the day they were found, and the next day they were turned over... in November. >

Trump is absolutely going to be indicted on multiple charges, both state and federal, unless of course he preemptively bolts to someplace like the UAE where there is no extradition treaty. Either way, 10/10 he has retained additional classified documents to be either sold to the highest bidder or else used as leverage with DOJ. It’s not gonna work. He and those complicit within his circle will not escape justice. Exciting. Sad. >

Which he returned, so… >

This gives the republicons the what-aboutism they want to “counter” Trump’s crimes. >

Trump allies planted them. My wild theory. >

I mean... I think I recall Trump accusing people of doing that to him... so by the rules of projection, maybe not so wild. >

Thanks, media. This is only a story to deflect from trump doing the same thing and for people to bicker/scream whataboutism while it only allows for more time to be added to current cases. >

What is the media supposed to do instead? A coverup would be much more damaging in the long run. >

They have all the right to report on it but they need to say the docs weren't under request and were returned immediately. This is a nonstory if trump isn't under investigation for actually trying to work deals with classified docs of his own. By the media rolling a similar story out with the right headline, it basically normalizes the cases to the average citizen. >

In regards to illegality, that the documents weren't requested by the National Archives doesn't mean that removing the documents was legal.  The relevant question is whether the documents were removed intentionally or by accident.  Returning the documents willingly doesn't mean a crime wasn't committed, in the same way you can still be prosecuted for shoplifting even if you return the item. >

Benghazi! Benghazi! Benghazi! Now they've found another dead horse! >

Such a let down… I can’t believe Biden would have documents after what’s going on with Trump. This is what happens when you have extremely old men leading your country, they forget where they put CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. >

Inside joke, all former presidents have held onto these types of things. >

And most of them quickly return them once requested or if they find them themselves, just as Biden did here. I can think of one situation where a former president didn’t… >

He didn't, his lawyers did once they realized they found them in his old office. If you actually believe that story. Maybe the new R leadership in the House was going to investigate missing files and Biden figured it was finally time to return them. And why didn't this come out in early Nov when it was found out? This whole thing stinks of coverup which has plagued this current administration. Gotta love the hypocrisy of people though. Now everyone is looking for an angle to differentiate Trump from Biden. 🤣 >


If you actually believe that story

What evidence do you have that contradicts the story? >

Biden is (D)ifferent >


"On the day of this discovery, November 2, 2022, the White House Counsel's Office immediately notified the National Archives."

He literally is. This is what you're supposed to do if you find misplaced classified docs, not hoard them like a fuckin' dragon and show your friends (foreign nationals) at Maralago
It's real cute when right wingers/contrarians try to use left wing memes back at them and just...bellyflop. >

Oh god please for the love of god be something mundane. >

Jesus fucking Christ! >

Oh good grief….. >

Democrats should INSIST the doj impanel a grand jury for this. Oh - and for Trump, too. #LawAndOrder FTW >

Gym Jordan just came so hard. >

It was probably the first time he nutted in years without fantasizing about what really happened between the doctor and all those athletes.  Gym is such a piece of excrement. >

“Same thing, but different” - Dave Skylark >

"We fully possessed the illegal materials. We just didn't KNOW it"
Lolz >

This is hilarious. Look how many comments are using Trump to defend this situation and dismiss it entirely. It has NOTHING ZERO ZILCH NADA to do with trump, nothing to do with right wing left wing like holy shit. >

It's good to see both sides play the missing documents game. There are so many puppet masters in the shadows. And to think, I just want to live a peaceful life and hope that my government has my back...   What did we fight for post 9/11? Asking for a Veteran friend... >

A noun, a verb, and nine eleven >

The words "Biden" and "think tank" in the same sentence is hilarious. >

He has a sharper more thoughtful and heartfelt mind than TFG.  Biden has a speech impediment that gets mistaken as dementia when the right wing dishonorable propaganda machine splices footage to make him look like an imbecile.  A video editor could do the same hack job on anyone. >

Probably planted by Trump's Secret Service Team >

Smh. Why am I not surprised >

Dang
I kinda don’t care >

No one will care about this , trust me.
He could put the nuclear football in his basement and no one would care. >

Goddamnit...can everybody just not take government documents away and store it in random places >

He literally turned them in when they found them! Unlike the other guy, who hoarded HUNDREDS of documents! >

The difference is Biden probably had no idea he had them and certainly wasn't offering up their contents to anyone with a good enough offer with no care as to the welfare of our agents in the field. >

Cool headline. Think Tank BAD…No think GUd! >

In my limited experience, it's far more likely I lose a folder that I don't think has anything important in it than leaving my job with my vehicles full of their property. >

By their own standards, Biden should face no consequences. >

Biden can just declassify them. >

With his mind! >

With his presidential authority, using proper processes :) >

He didn’t have Presidential authority though, he was V.P. At the time >

He does now >

"On the day of this discovery, November 2, 2022, the White House Counsel's Office immediately notified the National Archives." >

And yet the media is fuckin frothing at the mouth to make this story look like Biden did the same thing Trump did >

Doesn’t matter if Biden did the same thing as Trump…..if it’s our understanding that taking classified information and keeping it as a civilian is a crime then Biden committed a crime it doesn’t have to equal Trumps crime. >

Intent. Trump' s is indisputable. There doesn't seem to be any at all here. That makes all the difference legally. >

I Don’t think so. We can’t really speak for Biden’s intent, and if you get drunk and run someone over, it’s still a crime even if doing so was not your intent. I don’t believe the law would make an exception for intent, Think that will be Biden’s defense? “I didn’t intend to take classified information”? >

Intent absolutely matters in criminal law. That’s why there’s mens rea (mental state) and actus reus (actions) requirements depending on the crime. What you described (a drunk person hitting someone in a vehicle) would be manslaughter as opposed to murder and would carry less harsh penalties precisely because of the intent or lack thereof.
If we take the story at its word that the Biden Administration promptly returned the documents and notified the Archives, then it’s completely different from the Trump situation where he’s defied requests to return the documents, then attests he returned all the documents while the Archives’ receipts say otherwise, adding on obstruction to the situation.
If Biden committed a crime, he should be punished appropriately. Based on the current facts, this doesn’t meet the same prima facie offense as the Trump situation. But we’ll need more information. >

Biden took classified documents. Is that a crime or not? Can you give me another example where saying you didn’t intend to commit the crime is a valid defense…..”I didn’t intend to run the red light” I didn’t intend to lose control and run a family over”.  Confessing to the crime 6 years later and only when caught isn’t a get out of jail free card….Biden can’t prove intent. He can say he didn’t intend to steal classified documents but nobody can prove that’s true. Does 6 years later sound prompt to you? >

He just did... murder... if you didnt intent to murder someone you didnt murder them... you committed manslaughter... 
Then theres liable and slander. If you didnt know it was a lie and you had no malice, then its not a crime at all. 
While i dont agree on the verdict on thus, elizabeth holmes was deemed innocent of defrauding patients with her faulty blood testing kits since it was decided that she didnt intend to harm them (she just got charged for defrauding some billionaires since that was direct and more provable). 
So yeah, lots of crimes that are only crimes due to intent. And lots of crimes which become much less crimes without intent. 
Taking classified documents is usually a relative slap on the wrist if theres no intent . There are cases of underlings taking them accidentally and they are actually fine if they return them promptly. They get reprimanded or something but keep their job. Theres been situations where they didnt and hid the fact (sometimes due to fear of reprisal) and they then get fired. >

And those documents promptly returned without issue or argument. >

"If you're the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying: 'It's declassified.' Even by thinking about it. Because you're sending it to Mar-a-Lago, or to wherever you're sending it," Trump said... >

Looking forward to Biden saying it to a reporter. 
"Classified? I can mentally declassify anything from anywhere when I want because I'm president." >

And they were self-reported and returned. >

Only after they were “discovered”. >

Trump had the same option to return them after they were ‘discovered’ and he fucking didn’t.  That’s the difference between legal and illegal and it’s not hard to see. >

Old documents found that nobody remembered or knew were there until they found them and when they did they immediately followed the proper channels to get them to the national archives? Doesn't seem like much of a story here. Maybe there is more to it, but it sure seems like it isn't nefarious to me. >

Well Biden must have taken them when he left the Whitehouse. If you feel taking classified information when you leave office is a crime, then Biden committed a crime, just because he forgot he took them, or just because nobody found out for 6 years wouldn’t make it less of a crime if we consider taking the documents as a crime. >

If you ignore all the things that make it different, like cooperating with the government and so forth, I’m sure these two do look similar. >

If you cooperate with the government once caught committing a crime it doesn’t make you less of a criminal. 6 years….Biden only cooperated when caught. >

It sure does. That’s why there’s a definition for “obstruction of justice” in the criminal code. >

Ok, so perhaps Biden won’t get hit with an additional charge of obstruction of Justice, but that doesn’t mean taking classified documents isn’t a crime. >

I bet you also think Obama should be charged because NARA had a facility in Chicago which housed documents. >

No, Obama should be charged with selling military weapons to the drug cartel and then obstruction of Justice for not letting Eric holder testify. >

Lol. Now do Ronnie Raygun. >

Sorry, I don’t know anything about whomever you are speaking about. >

It’s a shame that like Trump he’s also refusing to turn them over to the Archives and failed to tell the Feds when his attorney found them. Oh wait… >

At first you confused me but exactly . This is the response you have when you got nothing to hide . >

Well nothing to hide past you know 6 years of hiding them. Biden was never going to confess, Biden’s lawyers just didn’t want to get caught up in it. Had the lawyers not found them, Biden would still be hiding them. >

Okay Biden had 10 classified documents trump had over 300 including a set of ultra sensitive documents with highest level of top secret classifications . A range of documents covering the nsa fbi cia and tried to cover it up after he got raided him and his team . And to this day is not cooperating. There’s already an investigation into bidens documents let’s see what facts come of it but trump red or blue is bad for America . >

We don’t generally compare all potential crimes with what Trump did, what Trump did doesn’t matter. Biden most likely committed his own crime independent of anything Trump did…..we need a full investigation to determine if he took them intentionally or not. >

Just for funsies, I looked at the comments in the Fox News article on this story.
I saw exactly what I expected: equivocation this with Trumps classified documents trove

Was he selling it to a foreign government?
Where was the FBI raid?
If the DOJ doesn't file charges against Biden for possession of classified documents, they should drop the charges against Trump that simple.

It is simple, but the posters of these gems still managed to miss it entirely.
Bidens documents were not being requested by the National Arcdidn't. They were turned over when they were discovered.
Trumps documents were repeatedly requested by the Archives. He refused to turn them over. Then he turned over some and had his lawyers lie about whether there were more. He was given many opportunities to come clean. He didnt.
Trump even justified taking them using a declassificstion theory that his own DOJ argued against in court (and they WON)
It's like the difference between forgetting to forward mail addressed to the previous tenant of your home and opening that mail and committing identity theft.
One is omission, but the other is goddamn intentional >

Yeah, but it’s useful from an argumentation standpoint to ignore all the differences and assert that it’s completely the same.
Like, if you found a $100 bill on the l ground that turns out had been stolen versus robbing the bank. In both instances you are in possession of stolen money, but those aren’t even close to the same thing. >

Oh god here we go. >

This sucks. If he did anything wrong, I'm perfectly okay with him facing charges for it. The problem is that the headline, not necessarily the story, is going to be fodder for months to come. >

Fun fact, he didn't do anything wrong yet Republicans will beat this horse til after it's dead. >

His office literally reported it as soon as they discovered it...but it will somehow be worse >

Oh boy. Here comes the defense of Trump.  "Everyone does it!" >

Nah, Trump whined that Biden wasn’t having his home raided, despite the docs not being in Biden's home. 
Facts never matter to fascists. >

Wow i cant believe biden illegally took the most secret level documents, stuffed them in his personal desk at a golf resort, then hid them when the government asked for them, then refused to give them back so long that the government to fucking raid his house to take them back, at which point he still refused to give over all of the documents and made his lawyers lie to the government that he did so. Oh wait, he didnt do that? >

Do you think Biden taking classified documents with him when he left office as V.P. And keeping them for 6 years before his lawyers found them is a crime?  We keep comparing him to Trump, but let’s not…..as a stand alone incident is taking classified documents a crime? >

Are you a lawyer? >

He’s not. Fucking political science students can spot the difference in these situations, let alone law students and lawyers. >

And right here is the problem with today's media: Sensationalizing every story for clicks makes everything seem equally bad & as if both sides are the same... when they most certainly are not. Biden's situation was just an oversight discovered by his people & immediately reported, whereas Trump purposely hoarded classified documents & possibly sold them to other nations. Not even close. Fuck the for-profit media. >

If you really think the Dems aren't as bad as the GOP with their authoritarianism, then I got a bridge to sell you.
Oh, and:

Trump purposely hoarded classified documents & possibly sold them to other nations. Not even close. Fuck the for-profit media.

lol uh no. The documents found at Mar-A-Lago were already de-classified at the time of seizure. You are grossly misinformed. >

What source do you have that Trump’s were declassified? >

I was just posting myself that the timing of this “news release” is interesting >

Honestly, it is more convenient it wasn't discussed during the mid terms. >

Oh I’m glad it wasnt.  I think that’s the “norm” that was broken by Jim Comey when he announced major news before the Presidential election that was so upsetting for everyone.  But it makes me wonder how the decision gets made, by whom, and when we are allowed to receive these “January surprises” >

That is the other right wing talking point that the white house has been suppressing the news from social media. This is going to get way worse before it fets better. >

I watched the ABC World News Tonight program with David Muir, and it was the opening story.  That’s how I learned about it.  We are in crazy times if people are bitching not about whats leading on the evening news, but whether or not it has been algorithmed by social media. >

More people get their news from social media than from a television station though. This is like saying it would be ok to supress television news because it is also printed in a news paper. >

I bet this will be the first thing republicans will impeach him for >

They will try. >

Yes the house will probably impeach him but not senate. >

House impeaches, Senate convicts. Impeachment is a simple majority, conviction is two-thirds. >

“The documents were discovered when Biden's personal attorneys "were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C.," Sauber said. He added the White House was cooperating with the Justice Department and the National Archives.”
They found files, they returned them, no problem, but here come the false equivalencies. >

I mean but it’s a difference his own council is turning them over and working with them directly . Trump was hiding them and is trying not to cooperate… >

Trump took them with intent to keep them.  He then lied about return them all and obstructed the DoJ. 
Biden discovered them and returned them without notice.  He could have burned them and no one would have known. >

I agree 100% sorry if my comment was vague but this is what I wanted to say ! >

All good.  I heard Biden as POTUS mentally declassified these docs anyway which as POTUS he can do. >

Any developing info about this?
So far, 10 documents have been found. And returned to the DOJ without a paper of notice.
(I hear that the Biden is even co-operating on the investigation) >

It's too bad the details and true comparison of how Biden handled this versus how Trump handled his case will be lost to the fanfare of the title of this story. >

At least he’s not trying to declassify them telepathically. >

But he could >

Sure he could. Whatever helps you sleep at night. >

I was joking, I know this is a bullshit >

My /s sense isn’t great over text. Ik there’s ppl who literally believe that >

If the law was broken then prosecute however ill point this out.  Trumps documents werent supposed to be kept AFTER his presidency. He was asked about them and denied it.  They sent people to get docs and he fought it. But the point is when a president LEAVES office he she has to return documents.  Presidents IN office have documents wherever they are period.  And if biden wasnt president id be all over prosecuting him too.  The issue doesnt apply as hes in office >

The obstruction was always going to what Trump was charged with. >

So I'm going to assume all the people that vehemently defended Trump for his flagrantly stolen docs are going to do the same for Biden right? They certainly won't be hypocrites and try to use this to unseat him. (takes large sip of water and checks the comment section) >

Wait, the docs were found after he lost the election. How was he unseated? >

We decided presidents couldn't be charged with a crime, right? So nothing should happen to Biden according to republican logic. >

If somebody broke the law, prosecute them... just like Trumpy! >

Except when they're president. Then they're immune, just like Trumpy. >

Gym Jordan just came so hard. >

It was probably the first time he nutted in years without fantasizing about what really happened between the doctor and all those athletes.  Gym is such a piece of excrement. >

Great, this is all we're going to hear about now from the right despite its differences from the Trump case. >

It was 10 documents not 30 banker boxes. >

The article says "nearly 10" so probably more like 8-9 documents. >

In these kinds of situations, it's important that you stick with your sense of right and wrong. Don't make excuses because it's politically convenient in the short term. But at the same time don't shut your brain off and say the actions of one person is exactly the same as the actions of another. 
If Biden did something illegal, he should face consequences. If Trump did something illegal, he should face consequences. Listen to the facts (not the political spin from the right or the left) and make an objective conclusion when you see all of the evidence. If what we know so far is pretty much the extent of it then this seems more like an error than anything malicious and is orders of magnitude less severe than what Trump is dealing with. An inconvenient muddying of the waters but not the end of the world. At the same time, if more info comes out, don't dismiss it. Apply your ethical standards equally to politicians. 
With everything we know about both men, I'm hopeful this is nothing but I'm not going to rely on what we think we know about both men to draw a final conclusion. Keeping an open mind and truly caring about accountability won't cost you a thing. See how things play out and if the worst case scenario somehow comes to pass and Biden did exactly what Trump did, be prepared to deal with that too. I don't have any reason to believe that's the case, at this point, but don't dismiss it as 100% impossible either. >

Actually, the issue is the seriousness of having classified documents in ones possession. From what I understand Trump had them secured and Biden left them laying around in an old office. that is dangerous. It's much more likely Biden's documents could fall into bad actors hands than trumps documents. >

Trump didn't have them secured.  The DoJ had to tell them to secure the docs until they could come and get them. >

I'm pretty sure Mar-a-lago is a lot harder to get into than some abandoned office. >

Biden hadn't been in that office in 2-3 years. Found by lawyers when they were cleaning up. You can't make this sh!t up. Classified documents that were legally supposed to be returned years prior. And a VP cannot declassify documents. 🤣 >

Did you respond to the right comment? You said it was hard to get into Mar-a-lago, and I, like many others, responded with an article showing it was quite easy to get near Trump in MAL. You then changed the topic entirely here. >

Nope, I've been talking about Biden's office where the files were found from the jump. >

No you weren't. You specifically said:

I'm pretty sure Mar-a-lago is a lot harder to get into than some abandoned office.

As such, it is perfectly reasonable for them to respond directly to the argument that you are making. 
As such, it is also perfectly reasonable for them to call you out when you try to argue that that was not an attempt at comparing the two retentions of classified records or the ease with which they can be accessed. >

Yes, but I started talking about Biden and files in his office, that was the OPs post. You are not going to get me to believe that Biden had these files more secure than Trump. Did he even remember they were still there? >

The house republicans are gonna blow this up beyond ridiculous levels. >

Here come the republicans. >

There certainly has been an activation.. >

§1924. Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material
(a) Whoever, being an officer, employee, contractor, or consultant of the United States, and, by virtue of his office, employment, position, or contract, becomes possessed of documents or materials containing classified information of the United States, knowingly removes such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
(b) For purposes of this section, the provision of documents and materials to the Congress shall not constitute an offense under subsection (a).
(c) In this section, the term “classified information of the United States” means information originated, owned, or possessed by the United States Government concerning the national defense or foreign relations of the United States that has been determined pursuant to law or Executive order to require protection against unauthorized disclosure in the interests of national security.
(Added Pub. L. 103–359, title VIII, §808(a), Oct. 14, 1994, 108 Stat. 3453; amended Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, §4002(d)(1)(C)(i), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1809.) >

Based on the wording of subsection (a), not sure what Biden did was necessarily illegal. You might be able to argue it was negligence though. >

It’s also entirely possible it wasn’t even Biden who brought the records. >

It's cool. They were declassified by thinking about declassified them >

Thought this article was interesting to see how Biden handles classified documents versus Trump. Not trying to blame or take sides, just an interesting comparison of situations. >

Yes, one locks them up in his house, another leaves them behind sitting around in an office. >

One didn't lock them in his house.  He left them unlocked and lied about having them. >

They were in Mar-a-lago. Good luck trying to get to those. Another left them in his abandoned office. >

You're trying so hard to push that ”bOtH sIdEs!" shit but it's just not gonna work. Lol but it's certainly amusing watching you try, so do continue. Lol >

I don't have to. Biden just shot himself in the foot. It will be hilarious to watch this play out. The hypocrisy isn't lost on me. >

Nah, Biden will be just fine. Trump, however, is still every bit as f*cked as he was a day ago. 🤷 >

At least Biden can use the insanity defense. >

Day 1 of GOP House rule... smh >

He literally turned them in when they found them! Unlike the other guy, who hoarded HUNDREDS of documents! >

I'm a Dem. The AG needs to appoint a special counsel. I won't be an apologist for this. Investigate and get testimony.
Right and wrong doesn't vary depending on the team jersey someone's wearing.  Pity it's so rare to see that consistency from GOP supporters. >

Garland has already opened an investigation into this and appointed a federal prosecutor or DA (cant recall which) to lead the investigation. >

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch (a holdover Trump appointee) is investigating, but it needs a special counsel.
I'm cracking up that people are downvoting my comment.  Kids, that's what consistency looks like. >

People will not believe you on reddit, "kids" >

But did Obama declassify them with his mind? >

....and now Donald trump will get off scott free >

They are trying to hide behind Trump so it looks like what Biden did was no big deal. The whole issue with the documents is that they are classified and dangerous to have locked up in someone's house let alone being left behind in an office. So they deflect and make the issue about how trump handled the situation and not the seriousness of them being classified material. >

It is a big fucking difference, and folks are easily predicting what the Republican talking points are. 
Someone fucked up, but that's between NARA and Biden's team that vetted the documents. Unlike Trump, Biden wasn't taking shit and ignoring NARA. >

It's an investigation. They have no requirement to let you or I know anything. It's in the hands of the US Attorney's office. White House was notified the day they were found, and the next day they were turned over... in November. >

Trump is absolutely going to be indicted on multiple charges, both state and federal, unless of course he preemptively bolts to someplace like the UAE where there is no extradition treaty. Either way, 10/10 he has retained additional classified documents to be either sold to the highest bidder or else used as leverage with DOJ. It’s not gonna work. He and those complicit within his circle will not escape justice. Exciting. Sad. >

This gives the republicons the what-aboutism they want to “counter” Trump’s crimes. >

The difference is Biden probably had no idea he had them and certainly wasn't offering up their contents to anyone with a good enough offer with no care as to the welfare of our agents in the field. >

I see a lot of comparison to Trump's situation, which makes sense, but seen in a vacuum this is a scandal in itself. Trump took it to the absolute extreme as usual, but mishandling classified documents at all is a pretty big deal. If Trump's behavior is the bar, everyone looks good. It shouldn't be. >

From what I've seen from ex-national security staff people, this is pretty routine.  It was an office that he used when he was VP, and some documents got forgotten until they went to close down that office.
It shouldn't happen, but it does.  There's nothing to indicate that these documents were particularly sensitive.  I haven't even seen any reputable sources say what classification level these were.  My wild-ass guess would be that they were confidential, which is the lowest classification level.
The most likely scenario is that these were internal memos discussing something relatively mundane, and that they just got misplaced.
Regardless, the Biden team is following the normal and correct process.  They reported the potential breach, and the DOJ will investigate to see if anyone unauthorized may have had access, and what steps might need to be taken to protect national security. >

Thanks, media. This is only a story to deflect from trump doing the same thing and for people to bicker/scream whataboutism while it only allows for more time to be added to current cases. >

What is the media supposed to do instead? A coverup would be much more damaging in the long run. >

They have all the right to report on it but they need to say the docs weren't under request and were returned immediately. This is a nonstory if trump isn't under investigation for actually trying to work deals with classified docs of his own. By the media rolling a similar story out with the right headline, it basically normalizes the cases to the average citizen. >

In regards to illegality, that the documents weren't requested by the National Archives doesn't mean that removing the documents was legal.  The relevant question is whether the documents were removed intentionally or by accident.  Returning the documents willingly doesn't mean a crime wasn't committed, in the same way you can still be prosecuted for shoplifting even if you return the item. >

Which he returned, so… >

Trump allies planted them. My wild theory. >

I mean... I think I recall Trump accusing people of doing that to him... so by the rules of projection, maybe not so wild. >

Such a let down… I can’t believe Biden would have documents after what’s going on with Trump. This is what happens when you have extremely old men leading your country, they forget where they put CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. >

Inside joke, all former presidents have held onto these types of things. >

And most of them quickly return them once requested or if they find them themselves, just as Biden did here. I can think of one situation where a former president didn’t… >

He didn't, his lawyers did once they realized they found them in his old office. If you actually believe that story. Maybe the new R leadership in the House was going to investigate missing files and Biden figured it was finally time to return them. And why didn't this come out in early Nov when it was found out? This whole thing stinks of coverup which has plagued this current administration. Gotta love the hypocrisy of people though. Now everyone is looking for an angle to differentiate Trump from Biden. 🤣 >


If you actually believe that story

What evidence do you have that contradicts the story? >

Benghazi! Benghazi! Benghazi! Now they've found another dead horse! >

“Same thing, but different” - Dave Skylark >

The words "Biden" and "think tank" in the same sentence is hilarious. >

He has a sharper more thoughtful and heartfelt mind than TFG.  Biden has a speech impediment that gets mistaken as dementia when the right wing dishonorable propaganda machine splices footage to make him look like an imbecile.  A video editor could do the same hack job on anyone. >

It's like they have never heard Trump speak before. >

Biden is (D)ifferent >


"On the day of this discovery, November 2, 2022, the White House Counsel's Office immediately notified the National Archives."

He literally is. This is what you're supposed to do if you find misplaced classified docs, not hoard them like a fuckin' dragon and show your friends (foreign nationals) at Maralago
It's real cute when right wingers/contrarians try to use left wing memes back at them and just...bellyflop. >

Oh god please for the love of god be something mundane. >

Jesus fucking Christ! >

Oh good grief….. >

It's good to see both sides play the missing documents game. There are so many puppet masters in the shadows. And to think, I just want to live a peaceful life and hope that my government has my back...   What did we fight for post 9/11? Asking for a Veteran friend... >

A noun, a verb, and nine eleven >

Smh. Why am I not surprised >

Dang
I kinda don’t care >

No one will care about this , trust me.
He could put the nuclear football in his basement and no one would care. >

Cool headline. Think Tank BAD…No think GUd! >

Probably planted by Trump's Secret Service Team >

"We fully possessed the illegal materials. We just didn't KNOW it"
Lolz >

This is hilarious. Look how many comments are using Trump to defend this situation and dismiss it entirely. It has NOTHING ZERO ZILCH NADA to do with trump, nothing to do with right wing left wing like holy shit. >

For the situation. I agree with you. 
But the article quotes trump asking when bidens house will be raided by the FBI. That’s where trump comes into play. >

This could be a problem if Democrats don't come out and condemn Biden like they did with Trump. Don't want to look like hypocrites. >

Democrats should INSIST the doj impanel a grand jury for this. Oh - and for Trump, too. #LawAndOrder FTW >

Goddamnit...can everybody just not take government documents away and store it in random places >

In my limited experience, it's far more likely I lose a folder that I don't think has anything important in it than leaving my job with my vehicles full of their property. >

By their own standards, Biden should face no consequences. >

Biden can just declassify them. >

With his mind! >

With his presidential authority, using proper processes :) >

He didn’t have Presidential authority though, he was V.P. At the time >

He does now >

"On the day of this discovery, November 2, 2022, the White House Counsel's Office immediately notified the National Archives." >

Interesting that this information is just becoming public today, January 9th.  I’m certainly glad it wasn’t out there screwing with the mid term elections results, but who gets to decide when the news is allowed to leak. >


I’m certainly glad it wasn’t out there screwing with the mid term elections results…

The documents were only discovered by President Biden's lawyers a few days before the election, so it was never going to be an issue for the midterms. >

Well that is not true at all. They were found on November 2 which means all the people that had not already voted early could have had the opportunity to see the news and alter their voting decision accordingly. >

It's not like Biden murdered someone on 11/2, this is the kind of story that would take awhile (months) to get from your lawyers discovering a box in an old office to MSNBC reporting on.
Remember that Trump was in a legal battle over his documents basically since he left office, and the public didn't know about the February request for them from the archives until June when the FBI visited. >

To say all news travels at exactly the same speed is not true tho. News during the election cycle is always going to be much faster than news outside the election cycle. The current situation also cannot be viewed in a vacuum. While it took a while to get the documents back from Mar-a-Lago, the use of the FBI to seize the documents painted the issue in a vary public light. This will naturally charge the next instance of unreturned classified documents. While the general public may not have been as interested in the Trump document issue until the FBI showed up, that template would not translate over to the Biden document issue because people are now alerted to the potential danger of classified documents just lying around in a former president or vice president's private areas. Also, the Trump document fiasco happened just one month before. >

My point is exactly that not all news travels at the same speed. 
The national archives don't just make a public statement whenever some classified documents they didn't notice were missing were returned. It isn't an event that is in and of itself noticable, like my example of Biden murdering someone, or the Trump raid. That event broke quickly because it has to, because the FBI has some fucking explaining to do when it raids the house of a former president. 
It's perfectly credible that it would take awhile for a news org to come sniffing around this story, and then for the national archives to confirm anything. Biden found the documents 6 days before election day (and only 3 business days) the national archives probably had probably only just gotten their hands on the documents by the time the election happened and likely hadn't gone through them yet. >

Those are fair points, but I am sure we can both agree that three months was a grossly excessive delay that does not bode well for the credibility of any party involved. >

I disagree. I did a fair amount of reading on the trump case, and the national archives knew Trump had documents of theirs since late 2021, they notified him in February and had an ongoing dialogue with him for 3 or 4 months before news broke on anything. 
And it was very light on the ground until the raid. I could hardly find a half dozen articles from June about any of this, and it was because, again, the FBI visited Mara Lago to audit it's security. If the FBI hadn't done that, I'm not sure the Trump story would have broken until when the raid happened, like 6 months after the archives contacted Trump and more than 10 after they knew about it themselves.
Even with the priors that the news is looking for this kinda thing in light of the Trump raid, I think a couple months is a reasonable period from "the story literally didn't exist yet" to "headlines".
This kind of bureaucratic news moves like molasses, it basically only gets broken when a news org specifically gets a tip and comes digging for something. >

And those documents promptly returned without issue or argument. >

"If you're the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying: 'It's declassified.' Even by thinking about it. Because you're sending it to Mar-a-Lago, or to wherever you're sending it," Trump said... >

Looking forward to Biden saying it to a reporter. 
"Classified? I can mentally declassify anything from anywhere when I want because I'm president." >

I sure hope he does. Love to see him troll Doocy with that response. >

And they were self-reported and returned. >

Only after they were “discovered”. >

Trump had the same option to return them after they were ‘discovered’ and he fucking didn’t.  That’s the difference between legal and illegal and it’s not hard to see. >

Old documents found that nobody remembered or knew were there until they found them and when they did they immediately followed the proper channels to get them to the national archives? Doesn't seem like much of a story here. Maybe there is more to it, but it sure seems like it isn't nefarious to me. >

Well Biden must have taken them when he left the Whitehouse. If you feel taking classified information when you leave office is a crime, then Biden committed a crime, just because he forgot he took them, or just because nobody found out for 6 years wouldn’t make it less of a crime if we consider taking the documents as a crime. >

If you ignore all the things that make it different, like cooperating with the government and so forth, I’m sure these two do look similar. >

If you cooperate with the government once caught committing a crime it doesn’t make you less of a criminal. 6 years….Biden only cooperated when caught. >

It sure does. That’s why there’s a definition for “obstruction of justice” in the criminal code. >

Ok, so perhaps Biden won’t get hit with an additional charge of obstruction of Justice, but that doesn’t mean taking classified documents isn’t a crime. >

I bet you also think Obama should be charged because NARA had a facility in Chicago which housed documents. >

No, Obama should be charged with selling military weapons to the drug cartel and then obstruction of Justice for not letting Eric holder testify. >

Lol. Now do Ronnie Raygun. >

Sorry, I don’t know anything about whomever you are speaking about. >

It’s a shame that like Trump he’s also refusing to turn them over to the Archives and failed to tell the Feds when his attorney found them. Oh wait… >

At first you confused me but exactly . This is the response you have when you got nothing to hide . >

Well nothing to hide past you know 6 years of hiding them. Biden was never going to confess, Biden’s lawyers just didn’t want to get caught up in it. Had the lawyers not found them, Biden would still be hiding them. >

Okay Biden had 10 classified documents trump had over 300 including a set of ultra sensitive documents with highest level of top secret classifications . A range of documents covering the nsa fbi cia and tried to cover it up after he got raided him and his team . And to this day is not cooperating. There’s already an investigation into bidens documents let’s see what facts come of it but trump red or blue is bad for America . >

We don’t generally compare all potential crimes with what Trump did, what Trump did doesn’t matter. Biden most likely committed his own crime independent of anything Trump did…..we need a full investigation to determine if he took them intentionally or not. >

Just for funsies, I looked at the comments in the Fox News article on this story.
I saw exactly what I expected: equivocation this with Trumps classified documents trove

Was he selling it to a foreign government?
Where was the FBI raid?
If the DOJ doesn't file charges against Biden for possession of classified documents, they should drop the charges against Trump that simple.

It is simple, but the posters of these gems still managed to miss it entirely.
Bidens documents were not being requested by the National Arcdidn't. They were turned over when they were discovered.
Trumps documents were repeatedly requested by the Archives. He refused to turn them over. Then he turned over some and had his lawyers lie about whether there were more. He was given many opportunities to come clean. He didnt.
Trump even justified taking them using a declassificstion theory that his own DOJ argued against in court (and they WON)
It's like the difference between forgetting to forward mail addressed to the previous tenant of your home and opening that mail and committing identity theft.
One is omission, but the other is goddamn intentional >

Yeah, but it’s useful from an argumentation standpoint to ignore all the differences and assert that it’s completely the same.
Like, if you found a $100 bill on the l ground that turns out had been stolen versus robbing the bank. In both instances you are in possession of stolen money, but those aren’t even close to the same thing. >

And even more aptly, this is like you finding a $100 bill on the ground and immediately turning it over to the authorities versus robbing the bank and saying “what money? There’s no money” when the FBI tracks it to your tacky money laundering compound in Florida and refusing to return it and then claiming it was planted when the FBI shows up and takes it back. Totally the same thing. >

Oh god here we go. >

This sucks. If he did anything wrong, I'm perfectly okay with him facing charges for it. The problem is that the headline, not necessarily the story, is going to be fodder for months to come. >

Fun fact, he didn't do anything wrong yet Republicans will beat this horse til after it's dead. >

His office literally reported it as soon as they discovered it...but it will somehow be worse >

Oh boy. Here comes the defense of Trump.  "Everyone does it!" >

Nah, Trump whined that Biden wasn’t having his home raided, despite the docs not being in Biden's home. 
Facts never matter to fascists. >

Wow i cant believe biden illegally took the most secret level documents, stuffed them in his personal desk at a golf resort, then hid them when the government asked for them, then refused to give them back so long that the government to fucking raid his house to take them back, at which point he still refused to give over all of the documents and made his lawyers lie to the government that he did so. Oh wait, he didnt do that? >

Do you think Biden taking classified documents with him when he left office as V.P. And keeping them for 6 years before his lawyers found them is a crime?  We keep comparing him to Trump, but let’s not…..as a stand alone incident is taking classified documents a crime? >

Are you a lawyer? >

He’s not. Fucking political science students can spot the difference in these situations, let alone law students and lawyers. >

And right here is the problem with today's media: Sensationalizing every story for clicks makes everything seem equally bad & as if both sides are the same... when they most certainly are not. Biden's situation was just an oversight discovered by his people & immediately reported, whereas Trump purposely hoarded classified documents & possibly sold them to other nations. Not even close. Fuck the for-profit media. >

If you really think the Dems aren't as bad as the GOP with their authoritarianism, then I got a bridge to sell you.
Oh, and:

Trump purposely hoarded classified documents & possibly sold them to other nations. Not even close. Fuck the for-profit media.

lol uh no. The documents found at Mar-A-Lago were already de-classified at the time of seizure. You are grossly misinformed. >

What source do you have that Trump’s were declassified? >

I was just posting myself that the timing of this “news release” is interesting >

Honestly, it is more convenient it wasn't discussed during the mid terms. >

Oh I’m glad it wasnt.  I think that’s the “norm” that was broken by Jim Comey when he announced major news before the Presidential election that was so upsetting for everyone.  But it makes me wonder how the decision gets made, by whom, and when we are allowed to receive these “January surprises” >

That is the other right wing talking point that the white house has been suppressing the news from social media. This is going to get way worse before it fets better. >

I watched the ABC World News Tonight program with David Muir, and it was the opening story.  That’s how I learned about it.  We are in crazy times if people are bitching not about whats leading on the evening news, but whether or not it has been algorithmed by social media. >

More people get their news from social media than from a television station though. This is like saying it would be ok to supress television news because it is also printed in a news paper. >

I bet this will be the first thing republicans will impeach him for >

They will try. >

Yes the house will probably impeach him but not senate. >

House impeaches, Senate convicts. Impeachment is a simple majority, conviction is two-thirds. >

“The documents were discovered when Biden's personal attorneys "were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C.," Sauber said. He added the White House was cooperating with the Justice Department and the National Archives.”
They found files, they returned them, no problem, but here come the false equivalencies. >

I mean but it’s a difference his own council is turning them over and working with them directly . Trump was hiding them and is trying not to cooperate… >

Trump took them with intent to keep them.  He then lied about return them all and obstructed the DoJ. 
Biden discovered them and returned them without notice.  He could have burned them and no one would have known. >

I agree 100% sorry if my comment was vague but this is what I wanted to say ! >

All good.  I heard Biden as POTUS mentally declassified these docs anyway which as POTUS he can do. >

Any developing info about this?
So far, 10 documents have been found. And returned to the DOJ without a paper of notice.
(I hear that the Biden is even co-operating on the investigation) >

It's too bad the details and true comparison of how Biden handled this versus how Trump handled his case will be lost to the fanfare of the title of this story. >

At least he’s not trying to declassify them telepathically. >

But he could >

Sure he could. Whatever helps you sleep at night. >

I was joking, I know this is a bullshit >

My /s sense isn’t great over text. Ik there’s ppl who literally believe that >

If the law was broken then prosecute however ill point this out.  Trumps documents werent supposed to be kept AFTER his presidency. He was asked about them and denied it.  They sent people to get docs and he fought it. But the point is when a president LEAVES office he she has to return documents.  Presidents IN office have documents wherever they are period.  And if biden wasnt president id be all over prosecuting him too.  The issue doesnt apply as hes in office >

The obstruction was always going to what Trump was charged with. >

So I'm going to assume all the people that vehemently defended Trump for his flagrantly stolen docs are going to do the same for Biden right? They certainly won't be hypocrites and try to use this to unseat him. (takes large sip of water and checks the comment section) >

Wait, the docs were found after he lost the election. How was he unseated? >

We decided presidents couldn't be charged with a crime, right? So nothing should happen to Biden according to republican logic. >

If somebody broke the law, prosecute them... just like Trumpy! >

Except when they're president. Then they're immune, just like Trumpy. >

Gym Jordan just came so hard. >

It was probably the first time he nutted in years without fantasizing about what really happened between the doctor and all those athletes.  Gym is such a piece of excrement. >

Great, this is all we're going to hear about now from the right despite its differences from the Trump case. >

It was 10 documents not 30 banker boxes. >

The article says "nearly 10" so probably more like 8-9 documents. >

In these kinds of situations, it's important that you stick with your sense of right and wrong. Don't make excuses because it's politically convenient in the short term. But at the same time don't shut your brain off and say the actions of one person is exactly the same as the actions of another. 
If Biden did something illegal, he should face consequences. If Trump did something illegal, he should face consequences. Listen to the facts (not the political spin from the right or the left) and make an objective conclusion when you see all of the evidence. If what we know so far is pretty much the extent of it then this seems more like an error than anything malicious and is orders of magnitude less severe than what Trump is dealing with. An inconvenient muddying of the waters but not the end of the world. At the same time, if more info comes out, don't dismiss it. Apply your ethical standards equally to politicians. 
With everything we know about both men, I'm hopeful this is nothing but I'm not going to rely on what we think we know about both men to draw a final conclusion. Keeping an open mind and truly caring about accountability won't cost you a thing. See how things play out and if the worst case scenario somehow comes to pass and Biden did exactly what Trump did, be prepared to deal with that too. I don't have any reason to believe that's the case, at this point, but don't dismiss it as 100% impossible either. >

Actually, the issue is the seriousness of having classified documents in ones possession. From what I understand Trump had them secured and Biden left them laying around in an old office. that is dangerous. It's much more likely Biden's documents could fall into bad actors hands than trumps documents. >

Trump didn't have them secured.  The DoJ had to tell them to secure the docs until they could come and get them. >

I'm pretty sure Mar-a-lago is a lot harder to get into than some abandoned office. >

Biden hadn't been in that office in 2-3 years. Found by lawyers when they were cleaning up. You can't make this sh!t up. Classified documents that were legally supposed to be returned years prior. And a VP cannot declassify documents. 🤣 >

Did you respond to the right comment? You said it was hard to get into Mar-a-lago, and I, like many others, responded with an article showing it was quite easy to get near Trump in MAL. You then changed the topic entirely here. >

Nope, I've been talking about Biden's office where the files were found from the jump. >

No you weren't. You specifically said:

I'm pretty sure Mar-a-lago is a lot harder to get into than some abandoned office.

As such, it is perfectly reasonable for them to respond directly to the argument that you are making. 
As such, it is also perfectly reasonable for them to call you out when you try to argue that that was not an attempt at comparing the two retentions of classified records or the ease with which they can be accessed. >

Yes, but I started talking about Biden and files in his office, that was the OPs post. You are not going to get me to believe that Biden had these files more secure than Trump. Did he even remember they were still there? >

The house republicans are gonna blow this up beyond ridiculous levels. >

Here come the republicans. >

There certainly has been an activation.. >

§1924. Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material
(a) Whoever, being an officer, employee, contractor, or consultant of the United States, and, by virtue of his office, employment, position, or contract, becomes possessed of documents or materials containing classified information of the United States, knowingly removes such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
(b) For purposes of this section, the provision of documents and materials to the Congress shall not constitute an offense under subsection (a).
(c) In this section, the term “classified information of the United States” means information originated, owned, or possessed by the United States Government concerning the national defense or foreign relations of the United States that has been determined pursuant to law or Executive order to require protection against unauthorized disclosure in the interests of national security.
(Added Pub. L. 103–359, title VIII, §808(a), Oct. 14, 1994, 108 Stat. 3453; amended Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, §4002(d)(1)(C)(i), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1809.) >

Based on the wording of subsection (a), not sure what Biden did was necessarily illegal. You might be able to argue it was negligence though. >

It’s also entirely possible it wasn’t even Biden who brought the records. >

It's cool. They were declassified by thinking about declassified them >

Thought this article was interesting to see how Biden handles classified documents versus Trump. Not trying to blame or take sides, just an interesting comparison of situations. >

Yes, one locks them up in his house, another leaves them behind sitting around in an office. >

One didn't lock them in his house.  He left them unlocked and lied about having them. >

They were in Mar-a-lago. Good luck trying to get to those. Another left them in his abandoned office. >

You're trying so hard to push that ”bOtH sIdEs!" shit but it's just not gonna work. Lol but it's certainly amusing watching you try, so do continue. Lol >

I don't have to. Biden just shot himself in the foot. It will be hilarious to watch this play out. The hypocrisy isn't lost on me. >

Nah, Biden will be just fine. Trump, however, is still every bit as f*cked as he was a day ago. 🤷 >

At least Biden can use the insanity defense. >

Day 1 of GOP House rule... smh >

He literally turned them in when they found them! Unlike the other guy, who hoarded HUNDREDS of documents! >

I'm a Dem. The AG needs to appoint a special counsel. I won't be an apologist for this. Investigate and get testimony.
Right and wrong doesn't vary depending on the team jersey someone's wearing.  Pity it's so rare to see that consistency from GOP supporters. >

Garland has already opened an investigation into this and appointed a federal prosecutor or DA (cant recall which) to lead the investigation. >

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch (a holdover Trump appointee) is investigating, but it needs a special counsel.
I'm cracking up that people are downvoting my comment.  Kids, that's what consistency looks like. >

People will not believe you on reddit, "kids" >

But did Obama declassify them with his mind? >

....and now Donald trump will get off scott free >

They are trying to hide behind Trump so it looks like what Biden did was no big deal. The whole issue with the documents is that they are classified and dangerous to have locked up in someone's house let alone being left behind in an office. So they deflect and make the issue about how trump handled the situation and not the seriousness of them being classified material. >

It is a big fucking difference, and folks are easily predicting what the Republican talking points are. 
Someone fucked up, but that's between NARA and Biden's team that vetted the documents. Unlike Trump, Biden wasn't taking shit and ignoring NARA. >

It's an investigation. They have no requirement to let you or I know anything. It's in the hands of the US Attorney's office. White House was notified the day they were found, and the next day they were turned over... in November. >

Trump is absolutely going to be indicted on multiple charges, both state and federal, unless of course he preemptively bolts to someplace like the UAE where there is no extradition treaty. Either way, 10/10 he has retained additional classified documents to be either sold to the highest bidder or else used as leverage with DOJ. It’s not gonna work. He and those complicit within his circle will not escape justice. Exciting. Sad. >

This gives the republicons the what-aboutism they want to “counter” Trump’s crimes. >

The difference is Biden probably had no idea he had them and certainly wasn't offering up their contents to anyone with a good enough offer with no care as to the welfare of our agents in the field. >

I see a lot of comparison to Trump's situation, which makes sense, but seen in a vacuum this is a scandal in itself. Trump took it to the absolute extreme as usual, but mishandling classified documents at all is a pretty big deal. If Trump's behavior is the bar, everyone looks good. It shouldn't be. >

From what I've seen from ex-national security staff people, this is pretty routine.  It was an office that he used when he was VP, and some documents got forgotten until they went to close down that office.
It shouldn't happen, but it does.  There's nothing to indicate that these documents were particularly sensitive.  I haven't even seen any reputable sources say what classification level these were.  My wild-ass guess would be that they were confidential, which is the lowest classification level.
The most likely scenario is that these were internal memos discussing something relatively mundane, and that they just got misplaced.
Regardless, the Biden team is following the normal and correct process.  They reported the potential breach, and the DOJ will investigate to see if anyone unauthorized may have had access, and what steps might need to be taken to protect national security. >

Thanks, media. This is only a story to deflect from trump doing the same thing and for people to bicker/scream whataboutism while it only allows for more time to be added to current cases. >

What is the media supposed to do instead? A coverup would be much more damaging in the long run. >

They have all the right to report on it but they need to say the docs weren't under request and were returned immediately. This is a nonstory if trump isn't under investigation for actually trying to work deals with classified docs of his own. By the media rolling a similar story out with the right headline, it basically normalizes the cases to the average citizen. >

In regards to illegality, that the documents weren't requested by the National Archives doesn't mean that removing the documents was legal.  The relevant question is whether the documents were removed intentionally or by accident.  Returning the documents willingly doesn't mean a crime wasn't committed, in the same way you can still be prosecuted for shoplifting even if you return the item. >

Which he returned, so… >

Trump allies planted them. My wild theory. >

I mean... I think I recall Trump accusing people of doing that to him... so by the rules of projection, maybe not so wild. >

This is hilarious. Look how many comments are using Trump to defend this situation and dismiss it entirely. It has NOTHING ZERO ZILCH NADA to do with trump, nothing to do with right wing left wing like holy shit. >

This is rich when all Republicans do when you mention Trump is to bring up Biden. >

See it’s just this back and forth back and forth hypocrisy >

Such a let down… I can’t believe Biden would have documents after what’s going on with Trump. This is what happens when you have extremely old men leading your country, they forget where they put CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. >

Inside joke, all former presidents have held onto these types of things. >

And most of them quickly return them once requested or if they find them themselves, just as Biden did here. I can think of one situation where a former president didn’t… >

He didn't, his lawyers did once they realized they found them in his old office. If you actually believe that story. Maybe the new R leadership in the House was going to investigate missing files and Biden figured it was finally time to return them. And why didn't this come out in early Nov when it was found out? This whole thing stinks of coverup which has plagued this current administration. Gotta love the hypocrisy of people though. Now everyone is looking for an angle to differentiate Trump from Biden. 🤣 >


If you actually believe that story

What evidence do you have that contradicts the story? >

Benghazi! Benghazi! Benghazi! Now they've found another dead horse! >

“Same thing, but different” - Dave Skylark >

Biden is (D)ifferent >


"On the day of this discovery, November 2, 2022, the White House Counsel's Office immediately notified the National Archives."

He literally is. This is what you're supposed to do if you find misplaced classified docs, not hoard them like a fuckin' dragon and show your friends (foreign nationals) at Maralago
It's real cute when right wingers/contrarians try to use left wing memes back at them and just...bellyflop. >

The words "Biden" and "think tank" in the same sentence is hilarious. >

He has a sharper more thoughtful and heartfelt mind than TFG.  Biden has a speech impediment that gets mistaken as dementia when the right wing dishonorable propaganda machine splices footage to make him look like an imbecile.  A video editor could do the same hack job on anyone. >

It's like they have never heard Trump speak before. >

Oh god please for the love of god be something mundane. >

Jesus fucking Christ! >

Oh good grief….. >

How does this impact the DOJ charges against Trump? AP article says it "complicates" things. >

It's good to see both sides play the missing documents game. There are so many puppet masters in the shadows. And to think, I just want to live a peaceful life and hope that my government has my back...   What did we fight for post 9/11? Asking for a Veteran friend... >

A noun, a verb, and nine eleven >

Smh. Why am I not surprised >

Dang
I kinda don’t care >

No one will care about this , trust me.
He could put the nuclear football in his basement and no one would care. >

Cool headline. Think Tank BAD…No think GUd! >

Probably planted by Trump's Secret Service Team >

"We fully possessed the illegal materials. We just didn't KNOW it"
Lolz >

This could be a problem if Democrats don't come out and condemn Biden like they did with Trump. Don't want to look like hypocrites. >

Democrats should INSIST the doj impanel a grand jury for this. Oh - and for Trump, too. #LawAndOrder FTW >

Goddamnit...can everybody just not take government documents away and store it in random places >

In my limited experience, it's far more likely I lose a folder that I don't think has anything important in it than leaving my job with my vehicles full of their property. >

By their own standards, Biden should face no consequences. >

Biden can just declassify them. >

With his mind! >

With his presidential authority, using proper processes :) >

He didn’t have Presidential authority though, he was V.P. At the time >

He does now >

"On the day of this discovery, November 2, 2022, the White House Counsel's Office immediately notified the National Archives." >

Interesting that this information is just becoming public today, January 9th.  I’m certainly glad it wasn’t out there screwing with the mid term elections results, but who gets to decide when the news is allowed to leak. >


I’m certainly glad it wasn’t out there screwing with the mid term elections results…

The documents were only discovered by President Biden's lawyers a few days before the election, so it was never going to be an issue for the midterms. >

Well that is not true at all. They were found on November 2 which means all the people that had not already voted early could have had the opportunity to see the news and alter their voting decision accordingly. >

It's not like Biden murdered someone on 11/2, this is the kind of story that would take awhile (months) to get from your lawyers discovering a box in an old office to MSNBC reporting on.
Remember that Trump was in a legal battle over his documents basically since he left office, and the public didn't know about the February request for them from the archives until June when the FBI visited. >

To say all news travels at exactly the same speed is not true tho. News during the election cycle is always going to be much faster than news outside the election cycle. The current situation also cannot be viewed in a vacuum. While it took a while to get the documents back from Mar-a-Lago, the use of the FBI to seize the documents painted the issue in a vary public light. This will naturally charge the next instance of unreturned classified documents. While the general public may not have been as interested in the Trump document issue until the FBI showed up, that template would not translate over to the Biden document issue because people are now alerted to the potential danger of classified documents just lying around in a former president or vice president's private areas. Also, the Trump document fiasco happened just one month before. >

My point is exactly that not all news travels at the same speed. 
The national archives don't just make a public statement whenever some classified documents they didn't notice were missing were returned. It isn't an event that is in and of itself noticable, like my example of Biden murdering someone, or the Trump raid. That event broke quickly because it has to, because the FBI has some fucking explaining to do when it raids the house of a former president. 
It's perfectly credible that it would take awhile for a news org to come sniffing around this story, and then for the national archives to confirm anything. Biden found the documents 6 days before election day (and only 3 business days) the national archives probably had probably only just gotten their hands on the documents by the time the election happened and likely hadn't gone through them yet. >

Those are fair points, but I am sure we can both agree that three months was a grossly excessive delay that does not bode well for the credibility of any party involved. >

I disagree. I did a fair amount of reading on the trump case, and the national archives knew Trump had documents of theirs since late 2021, they notified him in February and had an ongoing dialogue with him for 3 or 4 months before news broke on anything. 
And it was very light on the ground until the raid. I could hardly find a half dozen articles from June about any of this, and it was because, again, the FBI visited Mara Lago to audit it's security. If the FBI hadn't done that, I'm not sure the Trump story would have broken until when the raid happened, like 6 months after the archives contacted Trump and more than 10 after they knew about it themselves.
Even with the priors that the news is looking for this kinda thing in light of the Trump raid, I think a couple months is a reasonable period from "the story literally didn't exist yet" to "headlines".
This kind of bureaucratic news moves like molasses, it basically only gets broken when a news org specifically gets a tip and comes digging for something. >

And those documents promptly returned without issue or argument. >

"If you're the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying: 'It's declassified.' Even by thinking about it. Because you're sending it to Mar-a-Lago, or to wherever you're sending it," Trump said... >

Looking forward to Biden saying it to a reporter. 
"Classified? I can mentally declassify anything from anywhere when I want because I'm president." >

I sure hope he does. Love to see him troll Doocy with that response. >

And they were self-reported and returned. >

Only after they were “discovered”. >

Trump had the same option to return them after they were ‘discovered’ and he fucking didn’t.  That’s the difference between legal and illegal and it’s not hard to see. >

Old documents found that nobody remembered or knew were there until they found them and when they did they immediately followed the proper channels to get them to the national archives? Doesn't seem like much of a story here. Maybe there is more to it, but it sure seems like it isn't nefarious to me. >

Well Biden must have taken them when he left the Whitehouse. If you feel taking classified information when you leave office is a crime, then Biden committed a crime, just because he forgot he took them, or just because nobody found out for 6 years wouldn’t make it less of a crime if we consider taking the documents as a crime. >


If you feel taking classified information when you leave office is a crime

It isn't. It's the not giving it back part that's the crime. >

That’s not true……I’m not sure where you got that idea……if that were true than Trump can just give back the documents years later and everything is fine? I’m sure even you don’t actually believe that…..if I steal the Mona Lisa but give it back years later I’m not absolved from the crime. The crime is the taking of the classified information, in your example people can take classified documents, make a copy, give back the originals and it’s not a crime……your defense shouldn’t make sense to anyone. >


if that were true than Trump can just give back the documents years later and everything is fine?

If he didn't know he was in possession of classified information until years later? Probably not a crime if he gave it back as soon as the issue was discovered. The law says that it's a crime to willfully retain national defense information that you aren't authorized to have, meaning if you have it and don't realize it, then you aren't really committing a crime.

if I steal the Mona Lisa but give it back years later I’m not absolved from the crime

That's not a good analogy. You wouldn't have been allowed to take the Mona Lisa from the very beginning, so the second you take it, you're already willfully possessing something you're not allowed to have. You're already committing a crime. Trump and most likely Biden were allowed to have these documents at the time they came into possession of them. Then they were most likely put away and forgotten about. What makes it criminal or not is the actions that took place when each became aware of the classified information in their possession.

in your example people can take classified documents, make a copy, give back the originals and it’s not a crime

No, because copied classified information is still classified information, so by keeping the copies, you're still committing a crime by willfully retaining it when you aren't authorized to have it. >

It’s a shame that like Trump he’s also refusing to turn them over to the Archives and failed to tell the Feds when his attorney found them. Oh wait… >

At first you confused me but exactly . This is the response you have when you got nothing to hide . >

Well nothing to hide past you know 6 years of hiding them. Biden was never going to confess, Biden’s lawyers just didn’t want to get caught up in it. Had the lawyers not found them, Biden would still be hiding them. >

Okay Biden had 10 classified documents trump had over 300 including a set of ultra sensitive documents with highest level of top secret classifications . A range of documents covering the nsa fbi cia and tried to cover it up after he got raided him and his team . And to this day is not cooperating. There’s already an investigation into bidens documents let’s see what facts come of it but trump red or blue is bad for America . >

We don’t generally compare all potential crimes with what Trump did, what Trump did doesn’t matter. Biden most likely committed his own crime independent of anything Trump did…..we need a full investigation to determine if he took them intentionally or not. >

Just for funsies, I looked at the comments in the Fox News article on this story.
I saw exactly what I expected: equivocation this with Trumps classified documents trove

Was he selling it to a foreign government?
Where was the FBI raid?
If the DOJ doesn't file charges against Biden for possession of classified documents, they should drop the charges against Trump that simple.

It is simple, but the posters of these gems still managed to miss it entirely.
Bidens documents were not being requested by the National Arcdidn't. They were turned over when they were discovered.
Trumps documents were repeatedly requested by the Archives. He refused to turn them over. Then he turned over some and had his lawyers lie about whether there were more. He was given many opportunities to come clean. He didnt.
Trump even justified taking them using a declassificstion theory that his own DOJ argued against in court (and they WON)
It's like the difference between forgetting to forward mail addressed to the previous tenant of your home and opening that mail and committing identity theft.
One is omission, but the other is goddamn intentional >

Yeah, but it’s useful from an argumentation standpoint to ignore all the differences and assert that it’s completely the same.
Like, if you found a $100 bill on the l ground that turns out had been stolen versus robbing the bank. In both instances you are in possession of stolen money, but those aren’t even close to the same thing. >

And even more aptly, this is like you finding a $100 bill on the ground and immediately turning it over to the authorities versus robbing the bank and saying “what money? There’s no money” when the FBI tracks it to your tacky money laundering compound in Florida and refusing to return it and then claiming it was planted when the FBI shows up and takes it back. Totally the same thing. >

Oh god here we go. >

This sucks. If he did anything wrong, I'm perfectly okay with him facing charges for it. The problem is that the headline, not necessarily the story, is going to be fodder for months to come. >

Fun fact, he didn't do anything wrong yet Republicans will beat this horse til after it's dead. >

His office literally reported it as soon as they discovered it...but it will somehow be worse >

Oh boy. Here comes the defense of Trump.  "Everyone does it!" >

Nah, Trump whined that Biden wasn’t having his home raided, despite the docs not being in Biden's home. 
Facts never matter to fascists. >

Wow i cant believe biden illegally took the most secret level documents, stuffed them in his personal desk at a golf resort, then hid them when the government asked for them, then refused to give them back so long that the government to fucking raid his house to take them back, at which point he still refused to give over all of the documents and made his lawyers lie to the government that he did so. Oh wait, he didnt do that? >

Do you think Biden taking classified documents with him when he left office as V.P. And keeping them for 6 years before his lawyers found them is a crime?  We keep comparing him to Trump, but let’s not…..as a stand alone incident is taking classified documents a crime? >

Are you a lawyer?