
<p>If you really want to see America’s national political divide, just check out the response to the story that President Biden took a number of top-secret documents home – and kept them for years. It is certainly ironic that Biden would be caught with purloined records in his files after responding so sanctimoniously to President Trump.</p>



<p>If you follow the right-leaning news, you will see equivalency between the Trump and Biden documents issues. ; If you follow the left-leaning news, the differences get all the gravitas. ; In fact, both sides are correct. ; It is the omission of balance – recognizing the validity of the opposing argument – that is the problem.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Case Against Biden ; ;</strong></h2>



<p>Like Trump, Biden is guilty of possessing top-secret documents that he had no legal right to have in his possession. ; They were removed from the White House Illegally. ; The argument that those secret documents were no longer in secure places – as required by law – is valid in both cases</p>



<p>The fact that Trump had more documents in his possession is irrelevant. ; Bank robbery is not determined by the amount of cash the thieves got away with.</p>



<p>As in the Trump case, the question arises as to whether there are other purloined documents in any of many locations controlled by Biden – the archives at University of Pennsylvania and University of Delaware … his home … or even in the White House. ; Although, I would argue that if they were at the White House, the documents are still in the government possession.</p>



<p>There is still the question of why Biden had those documents. ; Based on media reports, there is another layer of suspicion. ; It seems the documents were related to intelligence about Ukraine. ; Maybe documents that would shed unfavorable light on Hunter Biden’s activities? ; Yes, that is pure speculation, but a question that needs answering.</p>



<p>The situation with Biden can arguably be mitigated by the fact that his lawyers discovered the documents and immediately returned them to the government. ; One can legitimately wonder why there was a three-month delay in public notification of Biden’s possession. ; Since the discovery was prior to the 2022 Midterm Election, the speculation that the withholding of the information from the public was politically motivated. ; More legitimate questions.</p>



<p>Ionically, one of the more damning observations regarding Biden came from Democrat strategist David Axelrod. ; Appearing on CNN, he underscored that EVERYONE in the White House was advised on the handling of government documents – especially top-secret information. ; Axelrod left no wiggle room for Biden to plead ignorance.</p>



<p>While Biden’s political friends say, “nothing to see here,” the fact remains that the situation is worthy of investigation. ; Attorney General Merrick Garland wasted no time in assigning the case to the Chicago federal prosecutor. ; It seems he wanted to avoid the appearance of political prejudice since he assigned the case to a Trump appointee.</p>



<p>I see this as the proverbial political sweater with a number of loose threads to be pulled to see what unravels. ; Biden’s claimed of cluelessness is not credible.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Case Against Trump</strong></h2>



<p>The difference is not the nature of the “crime” – if that is what it is determined to be in either case. ; Trump and Biden both had documents allegedly illegally removed from federal government custody without permission.</p>



<p>The fact that Trump resisted the return of those documents is a significant difference. ; There are accusations that Trump was never forthcoming concerning an inventory of documents he possessed – and accusations that he was attempting to hide some in the face of government requests and orders to return them.</p>



<p>Those actions resulted in a raid on Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago – and the retrieval of hundreds of Documents. ; There is also the possibility – POSSIBILITY – of obstructions charges.</p>



<p>None of that, however, absolves Biden of illegal possession of those top-secret documents.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-summary"><strong>Summary</strong></h2>



<p>What we have are two distinct cases to be investigated. ; Drawing an equivalency is a political game – with no meaning legally. ; In that arena, the advantage goes to Trump. ; His primary political adversary now faces the same issue – and Biden has egg on his face for his harsh attacks on Trump on the very same issue.</p>



<p>If you accept the significant differences in Trump and Biden cases, you have to consider the General Petraeus case. ; That case is more like the Biden situation. ; If you recall, Petraeus took home some secret documents to aid in the preparation of his book. ; He wound up paying a $40,000 fine and served out a 2-year probationary sentence. ; It should be noted, however, that Petraeus was accused of lying to the FBI.</p>



<p>Trump may also gain an important second benefit from the Biden case. ; Even though Biden appears to be in less legal jeopardy, can the Justice Department simply walk away from the Biden case and take a hard line on Trump. ; That would “appear” to be politically motivated – and Garland does not like that sort of appearance. ; Since he is not likely to throw the book at Biden, Garland may decide to go easier on Trump.</p>



<p>More often than not, these document cases are handled as civil cases – or will simply end when documents are returned. ; No charges were ever filed against disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner or his wife, Huma Abedin, who had secret State Department documents on their personal home computer – obtained when Abedin was a top aide to Secretary of state Hillary Clinton.</p>



<p>Of course, Biden cannot be charged while President, but that may end on January 20, 2025. ; It would really be ironic if both Biden and Trump were running for President to avoid a criminal charge for the same offenses. ; But that is a long shot.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>



<p>POSTSCRPT: ; The contents of the Biden government papers have just been revealed, and the Lincoln Library wants the documents back.<br><br></p>

Biden Took Work Home From the Office
