'Maybe We Should Find A Better Way to Inventory Classified Documents'
Biden, Trump docs cases "seem like apples and oranges," Intelligence panel member adds
The separate cases of President Biden and Donald Trump being found in possession of sensitive government documents appear very much different and unrelated, according to a Democratic congressman serving on the House intelligence committee.
However, taken together, perhaps they suggest the need for reform in the way that sensitive and classified materials are handled and inventoried, added Rep Eric Swalwell, of California.
Biden’s legal team reportedly found additional classified documents when they searched a second location after initially finding secret government papers in a different Biden office in early November.
They date to the period Biden served as vice president.
Although this is generating fresh outrage on the political right after the FBI searched Trump's Florida estate last summer and turned up hundreds of classified pages at Mar-a-Lago, political commentators and others are warning that the cases appear very different.
Although, at least preliminary evidence indicates that Biden's team is voluntarily turning over documents to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) — and fully cooperating — the documents in Trump's possession were recovered only after the former president obstructed their return and ignored a legal subpoena to do so.
“Well, Chris, we have the benefit of the Trump case that there are court filings, so we know exactly what the documents were, you know, at least -- not the details, but we know the classifications,” Swalwell said in an on-camera appearance on MSNBC host Chris Hayes' program. “We know that Donald Trump was asked over and over and refused to cooperate, and even still today may be refusing to cooperate.
“Here we are relying on media reports, and I’ll take them at their word, but I would like to learn a little bit more. I will say, these seem like apples and oranges, but I would also like, maybe in the future, for Republicans and Democrats to agree that maybe we should find a better way to inventory classified documents so that something like this never happens again,” the congressman added. “But if the Biden team is cooperating, that is in stark contrast to Donald Trump, who is litigating his way and believes that he has the right to possess these classified documents.”
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