When It Comes to Holding Unauthorized Documents, 'Both Sides Ought To Be Very Careful'
Biden, Trump supporters each said to have reason to worry
When it comes to the dueling cases of President Biden and Donald Trump each found in possession of federal documents they weren't allowed to have, partisans of each have reason for concern, according to political commentators.
The FBI last summer swarmed Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, to execute a legal search warrant to recover a large number of boxes full of classified and sensitive government documents which the former president had been holding onto illegally and had refused to return to the National Archives despite a subpoena to do so.
Trump is now under federal criminal investigation in the case.
More recently, staff for Biden has discovered that the incumbent president also has had some sensitive documents in his possession, at a former Washington DC office he had used, as well as at his Delaware home.
Biden's lawyers, and others, however insist that the president has immediately turned over all such documents to the National Archives and is cooperating with the Justice Department and other authorities.
Still, the Biden discoveries have begun animating the newly ascendant Republicans in the House, who are launching their own investigations into the Biden case while remaining hands-off on Trump's cache of documents.
“Well, since November, when they when they first started discovering these [Biden] documents and you know, they keep -- you know, they'll have a press conference and say, ‘Well, we really -- we think that's it. We don't think there are anymore.’ They don't know. They haven't known what's happened here,” said Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman who is co-host of MSNBC's Morning Joe program. “I guess, again, transparency I think works best for the Biden administration and works best for Biden himself, because they find the documents, they reported immediately, a far different situation than Donald Trump's. Anybody who says it's not is a political hack.”
The cases may be different, but political peril exists for both sides, according to political activist and MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton.
“I think both sides ought to be very careful. They have definitely given political space to the Republicans, but if they overuse it, they will end up waking up a lot of people that may have not been as strident for Biden — as they have been saying this is totally unfair — and they will rally up the Democratic base, and particularly those that have been to the far left saying, ‘We're not going to let them do this, because it is an inaccurate comparison between what Trump did intentionally and what Biden inadvertently has found out was in his possession,’” Sharpton said in an on-camera appearance.
By hammering Biden on his documents mess, it will almost force Republicans to acknowledge the danger for Trump, said Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski.
“Well, when you -- when you express concern about Biden's [case], you've worked through that Trump's is a big issue,” Brzezinski said, with Scarborough interjecting, “It's actually bigger I think.”
“It's kind of a conundrum for them,” Brzezinski added.
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