sycasey said:
bearister said:
You know darn well that anyone that ever held the office of POTUS or VP has them…..but I welcome an investigation of everybody.
Yeah, I am not shocked if any former President or VP has classified docs with them. People seem to have lost track of the key fact that Trump refused to give them back when he was asked. That was the real issue.
Pretty big distinction between someone who is reviewing documents outside a SCIF as part of their duties as Prez/VP and fails to properly return them vs someone who intentionally steals documents after his time in office has ended.
We don't know yet for sure, but it appears that both Biden and Pence (and perhaps others) improperly reviewed these materials outside a SCIF and they and their teams failed to follow the proper procedures.
According to Trump, himself, he took these things with him after he left the white house. Recently he claimed they were mementos and previously he said he was entitled to take them. It's clear that he was not doing so in furtherance of any duty he had as an elected official and that he purposefully did so as a private citizen. Similarly, the Trump crime is more than just holding classified information, he stole NDI which is a crime regardless of classification status and is a different category of wrong. And of course, Pence/Biden cooperated and voluntarily returned materials once they became aware of an issue. Trump obstructed the investigation, had his lawyers sign false attestations and hid things from the government.
The false equivalence between what Trump admits he did and what Biden/Pence are alleged to have done is pathetic. Not surprising but pathetic.