Republicans aren’t pleased with what they view as a double standard between the handling of President Joe Biden’s classified document discovery and former President Donald Trump’s discovery.
After reports surfaced on Monday (January 9) that the President’s lawyers discovered Obama-era classified documents in an office Biden held from 2017 to 2019, Republicans have been decrying the “hypocrisy” in treatment.
Those lamentations only heightened on Wednesday (January 11) when it was revealed Biden’s aides discovered more classified documents in the garage of his Wilmington, Delaware home.
Their cries come months after Democrats piled on former President Donald Trump for holding classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago home, a discovery that warranted a search and seizure by the FBI.
Republicans have homed in on the discrepancy between how the Department of Justice has handled the Biden case and how they handled Trump’s case.
Their first gripe is how the documents were uncovered.
“Where’s the raid of Biden’s garage?” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA.), House Majority Leader, tweeted at the FBI.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) also took issue with the lack of a “raid,” referencing how the FBI uncovered documents at Mar-a-Lago.
After the revelation that classified documents were found in Biden’s garage, Crenshaw tweeted, “there was no raid. No ransacking of Biden’s home. Nothing.”
The second gripe Republicans have vocalized is the lack of transparency surrounding the discoveries. The White House only admitted Biden kept classified documents in unauthorized locations after news outlets reported on these discoveries.
In the instance of documents found in an office Biden held, the confirmation came two months after the November 2, 2022 discovery.
But Democrats have insisted the different treatment stems from significant differences in the cases, pointing to the number of documents Trump kept — roughly 300 — compared to Biden’s — approximately two dozen.
Furthermore, they insist Trump had no intention to work with the DOJ and turn over the documents to the National Archive, something Biden’s lawyers and aides did in all instances.
