Biden’s ability to lead is out the window. We all can see it with our own eyes.
But now a classified DOJ report has shocked Joe Biden into silence.
The report by Special Counsel Robert Hur on President Joe Biden’s mishandling of secret documents is expected to cause political issues for the incumbent in an election year.
Although criminal charges are unlikely to be recommended, the report, which covers Hur’s yearlong probe, is likely to heighten questions about Biden’s competency and generate similarities between his case and former President Donald Trump’s federal secret materials trial.
Attorney General Merrick Garland stated in a letter to Congress on Wednesday that Hur had concluded his investigation into Biden’s sensitive materials and that once the White House finished reviewing the findings, he would make “as much of the Special Counsel’s report public as possible.”
Biden, the White House, and his campaign had been waiting for Hur’s report on the 25-30 documents, some of which were from when the president was a senator, since they were discovered in his Washington, D.C., office and home in Delaware before the 2022 midterm elections. The finding of the records was not announced to the public until January of last year.
Republicans are ready to blame Biden for being old and ineffective, as well as compare Hur’s inquiry to that of special counsel Jack Smith examining Trump, despite the former president’s own legal issues.
Republicans, including former Arkansas U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins, are preparing to criticize Biden over the records discovered in his Wilmington garage, linking them to his son Hunter, before the younger Biden testifies before Congress this month to answer allegations of corruption.
Others plan to highlight records from his University of Pennsylvania Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement office in Washington, D.C., which question the think tank’s funding from China.
“It wouldn’t have taken Jason Bourne to penetrate Joe Biden’s usually unguarded garage,” Cummins told the Washington Examiner, referencing the book, movie, and now TV action thriller series.
“The garage was sometimes watched over by Hunter Biden, who demonstrated a willingness to sell anything to anybody.”
“National security is obviously not a priority for the Biden administration,” he said.
Biden’s mishandling of secret documents is consistent with his average net negative 15 percentage point approval rating, and only 25% of polling respondents believe the country is on the right track, while 65% believe it is heading in the wrong direction, according to RealClearPolitics.
Republicans, including Trump, will claim that Democrats are weaponizing the Justice Department against their political opponents, using phrases like “a two-tiered justice system” and “lawfare,” which have grown in popularity since the FBI executed a court-approved search warrant for classified documents at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida in the summer of 2022.
He has now been indicted on 37 counts under the Espionage Act, including storing and distributing national defense data about nuclear projects and Iran’s assault plans.
Biden allies are allegedly concerned that images in Hur’s investigation may disgrace the president, similar to photos of boxes Trump placed in Mar-a-Lago’s ballroom and a bathroom in Smith’s indictment.
“One wonders whether Biden DOJ’s priority is protecting national security or just punishing defiance?” Cummins asked.
“Trump ill-advisedly, but characteristically, defied their tainted authority. Not hard to understand his distrust after a two-year fake Russian collusion investigation. He got indicted for his defiance.”
Democrats, such as party strategist Stefan Hankin, highlight the differences between Biden’s and Trump’s mishandling of sensitive documents, pointing out that the president did not keep the papers once he became aware of their existence. However, Hankin acknowledged that the general people may not understand this.
“Democrats are just going to be like, ‘Whatever.’ Republicans are going to be outraged. And then I would fully expect some line in the report to get lifted and put into ads about how Biden’s incompetent,” the consultant said.
“The Trump playbook is just flood as much crap as humanly possible into the discussion, and then everything feels like, ‘Oh, everyone’s doing the same thing, and there’s no differentiation between Trump’s boxes at Mar-a-Lago and the handful of files that ended up in Biden’s office or Biden’s garage or wherever,” he added.
“The narrative is Biden’s old and incompetent, and Trump is insane. So, as long as it just keeps fueling the narrative, then, arguably, I’m going to say it’s good for Trump.”
Regardless of Hur’s report, House Republicans are expected to continue probing Biden’s mishandling of secret documents, despite their lack of success in impeaching him.
“The Oversight Committee has requested interviews with current and former White House staff who were involved with organizing, moving, and removing boxes that contained classified materials, but the White House is blocking their testimony,” a Republican member of the House of Representatives said.
“The Department of Justice is also refusing to provide information to the committee about whether President Biden retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family’s foreign business schemes that brought in millions for the Biden family.”
The White House did not answer to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment, but Biden has repeatedly stated that he takes classified papers “seriously” and has “no regrets” about his previous behavior.
“As we have said from the beginning, the president and the White House are cooperating with this investigation, and as it has been appropriate, we have provided relevant updates publicly, being as transparent as we can consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation,” White House Counsel’s Office spokesman Ian Sams said last October after confirming Biden had sat down for a two-day, voluntary interview with Hur’s team.
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