While completely ignoring the level of outrage expressed over former President Donald Trump supposedly mishandling classified documents, the White House is desperately trying to defend President Joe Biden for doing the same thing — only much worse.
After the FBI raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, the left and their allies in the mainstream media excoriated the former president for supposedly mishandling classified documents.
It was later revealed that Trump and his lawyers had been cooperating with the FBI regarding the documents since he left the White House, and the FBI had even provided Trump with the lock that was on the door to the room containing the documents. The residence where the former president was keeping the documents was also protected by the Secret Service, which added an extra layer of security to the equation.
Biden, on the other hand, appeared to have just left classified documents in multiple locations for several years with little to no security.
Trump has also consistently asserted that he had declassified the documents in his possession, which he had the power to do as president.
Meanwhile, Democrats continued to call for Trump’s arrest.
Now that Biden has been caught with classified documents in three separate locations, all from his time as vice president, the White House and their allies have been scrambling to defend him — while ignoring the hypocrisy of their comments.
During the daily press briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre read a statement from Biden’s lawyers.
“We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the president and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake,” she stated.
"Was the president sloppy in his handling of classified material?"
Karine Jean-Pierre responds by reading his lawyer's statement. pic.twitter.com/lZbPu6WBCT
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 12, 2023
Classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president were discovered in three locations: his old office at the Biden-Penn Center in Washington, D.C., his residence in Wilmington, Delaware, and his garage.
Joe Biden may have Tweeted out a picture of the classified documents “securely” stored in his garage beside his corvette. pic.twitter.com/puI4SE0NKk
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 12, 2023
Jean-Pierre refused to provide clarification or further details about the scandal, or reveal where the documents were found, but she did say that Biden was “surprised the records were found” in his garage next to his Corvette.
“He did not know the records were there when they were found,” the press secretary said.
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby also attempted to defend Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, giving a similarly vague response when asked for details about the documents found in Biden’s possession.
“The president has spoken to how seriously he takes the handling of classified documents,” Kirby said, adding that Biden did “exactly the right thing” by turning over the documents to the National Archives.
When questioned as to whether Biden having classified documents at his home was a threat to national security, Kirby stated: “That would be a question for the Justice Department.”
