>

What a shit show. I mean, obviously Biden shouldn't have had classified documents either, BUT, the fact that it is now being treated as the same as Trumps shit show is ridiculous. 
I suspect some heavy duty politics at play here. I just hate that we are on the defensive when this is apples and oranges.
Also, who knew the DOJ could move to quickly!?
Voted for Biden.
Go ahead and investigate. Use all the same measures that were taken during Trump’s investigation.
If it comes to light that he committed a, or multiple crimes, then I support any subsequent charges.
If it’s found that he didn’t commit any crimes, then I say to republicans; piss the fuck off. >

With consideration given to how many warnings/refusals/delays were made. Take something, have it asked to be returned, and so it immediately? Yeah it's probably fine
Take something, deny it, claim you returned it, and refuse anything further for months? Then have it found in your desks top drawer? Yeah nah, you're pulling a shifty >

Unknowingly having classified documents isn't a crime.  The procedure is specifically designed to NOT punish someone for admitting to a clerical error- the idea is that it's more valuable to get the documents back than to risk someone hiding that they were ever missing.  There is nothing here to investigate.  If anything, it's a prime example of the system working as intended.
This shit was thoroughly hammered out in the Hillary private email server case.  Comey explained it fairly clearly when they declined to pursue charges.  I'd consider an investigation for this to be an attempt at obstructionism.

Edit: 
18 US Code 1924 "Unauthorized retention of classified documents":

(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 five years, or both.

If you have a more appropriate citation, feel free to inform me.  I don't work with these documents, but clearly it's critically important that he have knowledge, intent, and authorization to retain the documents.  If he intended to retain them beyond authorization (end of Obama's term), then that still is only questionably an issue since he has maintained clearances the whole time.  So, yeah, chime in.  I want your adversarial take on this. >

They're hoping for a Clinton moment. Unleash the special counsel, and then maybe we find out Biden cheated on his wife. >

The current Special Counsel rules were drafted specifically to avoid another Ken Starr type investigation.  They used to be independent of the Justice Department.  Now they are still overseen by the AG and broadening an investigation requires the AG approval. >

Boring. :) >

I go back and forth on the ethics. I think having an independent prosecutor is a better look for the Executive. But it's hard to keep away fishing expeditions. It be cool if we quit electing presidents that do shady shit too... >

Why do we keep using "independent" as an implication there won't be bias? There's just no way around the problem. >

Independent in this context only means Independent of the Justice Department/Executive Branch.  Ken Starr was the perfect example of being Independent but driven by ideology. >

Which is exactly what I'm saying and I fail to understand how anything has definitively changed. >

wth is going on with the National Archives? They didn't even notice these classified docs. were missing until Biden's lawyers told them they found them. >

I’m wondering why such information is a printed document?  What’s the point of a secure viewing area when you can just walk out with printed documents? It’s so ironic that I expect Alanis to start singing. >

Some things are classified based on origin, not content.  Example:  One of the 'classified documents' found in Hillary's (infamous) missing emails was a "Happy Birthday" message from a friend of hers.  Who happened to be an ambassador, in a non-friendly nation. *ANYTHING* such an ambassador sends is automatically considered Classified, even if it's "Happy Birthday". >

That's not a case of being classified because of origin. That's just a lack of declassification effort put into removing markings.
It's accidental overclassification. You need someone with authority to declassify things. >

Very good point, thank you.  
Although I imagine in this case the reason for nobody bothering to declassify was that nobody thought anyone would care.  Not that Fox News would be harping on it for years. >

It's just that you need to get someone to do it, and if you have no reason to then no one will bother.
In the example of happy birthday for example, if the recipient read it and that's all it needed then job done. Why bother declassifying? >

Voluntarily returned vs refused to return. 
Do the math. >

Also "Classified" vs. "TS/SCI source documents." >

They were discovered by his own attorney. He was the one that notified The National Archives. They promptly returned them.
It seems like there was nothing particularly sensitive there. 
And I guarantee Biden hasn't seen these documents in ages. They were in a box, in his garage, in his former residence. 
Trump had his sensitive top secret documents in his personal possession. In his safe and scattered around his office.  Was asked for over a year to return them to the federal government. Refused to the point that criminal investigators needed to get involved. 
It's not even close to the same thing. >

Yep, it’s very different indeed.
It’s still an error for Biden, and an investigation should be conducted to make sure there are no more, and to make sure there was no intent in the mishandling of documents.
And once it’s concluded, the results should stand.
And while I’m not a huge fan of Biden, I am confident that he will continue to cooperate, as will those who worked for him.
It is most likely they were simply overlooked and then forgotten, and if the investigation bears them out that is not a criminal act. >

I'm not even sure if it really is that big of an error. It sounded like it was perhaps just his personal calendars. Which would be categorized under that level of classification. >

He kept his calendars? Sounds like Supreme Court material. >

March 23rd, 6pm "Dinner with Squee" >

8pm, cocktails with donkey dong Doug >

March 24th, 8am... Nurse a hangover with lots of coffee. 
March 24th, 9am... Give a speech at a children's hospital saying "we must protect them.... or some shit like that." >

March 25, purchase 250,000 dollars worth of Nationals tickets...for friends. >

Ok cool. Investigate why they were there. 
Also investigate who the fuck is in charge of classified documents because the paper trail of, hey where's this file seems to have a really bad chain of custody. 
Also, anyone have a guess as to how they were found now? Again, why didn't anyone notice these were missing for the last 6 years? >

I wonder if Biden was like "hmmm might want to just check my stuff" and had some people go looking. >

I also don't know why this needed to become public. Like why people snitching? The only reason we found out about Trump and the documents is because he got raided. But the back and forth started in like May of 2021. >


he got raided

And then announced it to everyone. >

That's a good point - no one knew about Trump being investigated until he announced the raid, which was done as quietly as possible. That's likely why we didn't hear about Biden's documents until now, it's normally not a media spectacle. >

Biden had a lot of other people around him with clearance. An investigation needs to be done to determine if he's even at fault. >

Yes, an investigation needs to happen.  Who packed the boxes and why no one even notice the material was missing until Biden's attorney's turned it in are a couple pieces of this puzzle.  But none of that will lift blame from Biden.  He's responsible for his office and his house.  Some of that material was mixed with personal papers about Beau Biden's funeral arrangements, which suggests a certain sloppiness in how stuff got stored.  There will be plenty of embarrassment to go around by the time this is over.  
That said, nothing yet points to criminality on Biden's part.  It sounds like elected officials and political appointees are poorly trained in how to handle classified material.  It sounds like the people who should be in charge of tracking the material don't have a particularly good system in place (again, NO ONE in the government knew the material was missing until Biden's lawyers gave it back).  It sounds like the system sets personnel up for failure, actually, and screw-ups are so common that criminal charges are more exception than rule. >

To be fair, if I was in the middle of arranging my own child's funeral, I might not have file organization as my top priority.