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McCarthy on Biden’s Classified Docs: Democrats Think They Are Above The Law

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tore into Democrats this week following news of President Joe Biden having classified documents at a private office in Washington, D.C., that he used on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania.

During an appearance on Fox News, McCarthy spoke about the latest development and what Republicans are planning to do now that they control the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Let me ask you this question. What did you make of this story about Joe Biden and top secret classified information, especially after what he said about President Trump, especially after the raid at Mar-a-Lago, especially after Hillary Clinton? Remember, the July 2016 press conference. Jim Comey said no reasonable prosecutor would ever prosecute way more top secret classified information, never mind the deleted e-mails with BleachBit and the destroyed devices with hammers and the removal of SIM cards. What does that mean now, in terms of all those Democrats that wanted Donald Trump arrested almost immediately?” Hannity asked.

“They have to eat their words, but the hypocrisy. Think about this. They have gotten away with so much for so long. This was discovered before the last election, just like the laptop. They think they can lie to the American public. They think they can control the media, control companies to shut down if one media company writes about it. They think they’re above the law. Why weren’t they raided? Why didn’t they have the FBI coming in? Why didn’t he on “60 Minutes” say, well, I understand that because I bet I have the same problem?” McCarthy asked.

“Did Barack Obama have some of this when he was writing his book? Does Hillary Clinton have some? And you know what? All those people have been in government for years. President Trump just ran for president. Do you think he knew everything? You think he went and moved his own boxes? And you know what? They were locked away. Biden’s were not. And how many years after did he have them?” he added.

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“The FBI actually went to Mar-a-Lago. They looked at all those documents. They asked for a padlock. The padlock request was granted, and then, all of a sudden, a raid,” Hannity said.

McCarthy responded: “They think the law doesn’t apply to them. They think they write their own. And that’s what infuriates the American public. America believes in fairness and honesty. And that’s not what we’re getting from them.”

WATCH:

The Justice Department has turned to a Trump-era U.S. Attorney holdover to conduct the investigation into how President Joe Biden came to possess classified documents at a private office in Washington, D.C., he used in work on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania.

Reports this week noted that around ten classified documents were discovered in his office at the Penn Biden Center related to Ukraine, Iran, and the UK by a personal lawyer to Biden when he was closing out the office in early November, just days before the midterm elections. The lawyer reported the find to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Attorney General Merrick Garland has been briefed a number of times about the ongoing investigation into the matter by Chicago-based U.S. Attorney John Lausch Jr., one of the few holdovers from the presidency of Donald Trump. Lausch, the attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, was appointed by Trump in November 2017.

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“The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the Archives,” Richard Sauber, special counsel to the White House, said in a Monday statement, according to Fox News. “Since that discovery, the President’s personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives.”

Fox News noted further:

The discovery echoes revelations last year that Trump had housed a trove of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home after leaving office. The FBI ultimately raided his residence to recover some 300 classified documents.

Trump himself was quick to make the comparison on social media Monday, and a number of other Republicans called for more information about the Biden documents.

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CNN added: “The classified documents were dated between 2013 and 2016, according to the source familiar. They were found in three or four boxes also containing unclassified papers that fall under the Presidential Records Act. The vast majority of the items in the office contained personal Biden family documents, including materials about Beau Biden’s funeral arrangements and condolence letters, the source told CNN. It is not clear if the boxes with classified documents contained personal materials.”

The Biden lawyer apparently discovered a manila folder labeled “personal,” and when he opened it, he noticed it contained some classified items. At that point, CNN said, citing a source, the attorney closed the folder and called NARA.

“After making contact with NARA, Biden’s team turned over several boxes in an abundance of caution, even though many of the boxes contained personal materials, the source said,” CNN reported.

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