Jonathan Turley critiques President Biden’s poor excuse for mishandling classified files.
“Like a car, only better.” That slogan for Corvette sold a lot of cars, but, until last week, it was never used with regard to classified documents. President Joe Biden responded to a question Thursday from Fox’s Peter Doocy about the disclosure of additional classified documents found in his garage next to his corvette at his home in Delaware. The president responded “My Corvette is in a locked garage, OK? So, it’s not like they’re sitting out on the street.”
Like his car, it sounded like classified documents are even better to house in a garage.
There is no question that Biden’s 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is one hot car. Most of us would take the Stingray over an assortment of classified Ukraine briefing papers or memos. However, foreign intelligence may be more discerning.
The fact is that the argument that you protected classified documents as carefully as your Corvette will not cut it with the criminal code. As the Justice Department stated in the Trump filings, their mishandling of classified material can be a criminal act. The Justice Department cited provisions included 18 U.S.C. 793 (Gathering or Transmitting Defense Information) and 18 U.S.C. 2071 (Concealment, Removal, or Mutilation Generally).
Despite that history, many of experts assured the public, without any evidence but a couple leaks, that there was no criminal conduct involving Biden.
Harvard Professor Laurence Tribe has previously run through the criminal code on what Donald Trump should be charged with, including witness tampering, obstruction of justice, criminal election violations, Logan Act violations, extortion, espionage, and treason by Trump or his family. …
… Yet, when Biden was accused of the same unlawful possession of classified information, Tribe needed no further evidence. He declared “One is criminal (Trump). And one is not criminal (Biden). Say it in plain English.”
