Congressional Republicans were quick to condemn the Justice Department for not prosecuting President Joe Biden for his mishandling of classified documents despite charging former President Donald Trump in the case against him.
In a joint statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) admonished special counsel Robert Hur’s decision to not prosecute Biden, saying it “exposes a two-tiered system of justice that is indicting one President with politically motivated charges while carrying water for another amid similar allegations.”
“The Special Counsel’s finding that President Biden ‘willfully retained and disclosed classified materials’ and engaged in practices that ‘present serious risks to national security’ is deeply disturbing,” the trio said in their statement.
Hur’s report found that Biden did mishandle classified documents but that his actions did not amount to criminal conduct. The report came after a yearlong investigation into how Biden had classified documents from his vice presidency and his time in the Senate at his think tank’s Washington, D.C., office and his Wilmington, Delaware, residence.
Meanwhile, Trump faces 40 counts in the Justice Department’s classified documents case against him, which special counsel Jack Smith said last May were related to “felony violations of our national security laws as well as participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice.”
The former president’s handling of classified materials came into question in the summer of 2022 when the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago estate to retrieve documents it claimed were being unlawfully held there despite efforts to retrieve them.
“President Biden willfully hoarded classified information from his decades in the Senate and time as Vice President, yet Special Counsel Robert Hur has decided not to recommend charges against him,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said. “There is clearly a two-tiered system of justice in Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) noted that his panel “has been investigating Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents and we have uncovered key facts that unravel the White House’s and President Biden’s personal attorney’s narrative of events. Additionally, important questions remain about the extent of Joe Biden retaining sensitive materials related to specific countries involving his family’s influence peddling schemes that brought in millions for the Bidens.
“While the Justice Department has closed its investigation, the Oversight Committee’s investigation continues,” he continued. “We will continue to provide the transparency and accountability owed to the American people.”
A few of Trump’s allies on the Senate side also spoke out to decry the lack of charges in the Biden case.
“Biden gives away classified information as a private citizen and gets a pass. Trump “mishandled” classified info of his own government and they want him to die in prison,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Our criminal justice system is a joke. It’s why we shouldn’t roll over for DOJ nominations in the senate.”
Several Democrats spoke out to defend Hur’s decision not to bring charges, noting the differences in Trump’s and Biden’s willingness to work with authorities trying to retrieve the materials.
“There’s no double standard; they’re completely different factual situations,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told the Washington Examiner.
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“As detailed in the Special Counsel’s report, there are clearly concerning gaps in the manner in which current and former government officials retain classified materials,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said in a statement. “In this case, however, President Biden fully cooperated with the investigation, unlike his predecessor.
“The President’s decision not to obstruct the return of these documents to federal authorities or the Special Counsel’s investigation stands in stark contrast to the conduct of former President Trump, a clear distinction specifically highlighted in the report,” he added. “This case demonstrates that the Justice Department is not the personal law firm of any President, and I hope this episode impresses that on all public officials.”
