More immediately, Biden’s possession of classified documents is likely to rob him of the unvarnished ability to criticize former president Donald Trump for his own handling of sensitive material — even if the cases, and the two presidents’ approach to them, have been notably different.
The unexpected focus on the classified documents comes at a moment when Biden and his aides had been buoyant over midterm election results that were far better for Democrats than they feared. Biden seemed to revel in the Republican infighting on full display last week when it took 15 ballots before Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was elected House speaker. And the president is widely expected to announce his reelection bid in the coming months, as his approval ratings rise and the economy is on firmer ground.
The potential peril was on vivid display Thursday morning when Biden held an event to tout the good economic news that inflation was down and conditions for consumers were improving. Just before he took the stage, Biden’s lawyers revealed that a second batch of classified documents had been discovered in two separate areas of the president’s home in Wilmington, Del.
As soon as he finished talking, reporters shouted questions — not about the improving economy, but about why documents were found in his garage next to his prized 1967 Corvette Stingray.
“My Corvette is in a locked garage, okay? So, it’s not like they’re sitting out in the street,” Biden responded. “But as I said earlier this week, people know I take classified documents and classified material seriously. I also said we’re cooperating fully and completely with the Justice Department’s review.”
Biden promised to provide more information before long. “I’m going to get a chance to speak on all this, God willing, soon,” he said.
But about two hours later, Garland announced the appointment of special counsel Robert Hur to look into his possession of the documents, a decision that could limit Biden’s ability to speak publicly.
For Democrats traumatized by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 struggle to justify the handling of her own records — with some blaming the media for giving the story outsize influence — Thursday’s furor provided an uncomfortable hint of what might lie ahead, while threatening to muddy Democrats’ criticism of Trump for taking larger numbers of sensitive documents to his home in Mar-a-Lago.
“I don’t think Biden has legal worries here, I don’t think he has political worries,” said Brian Fallon, a former Clinton adviser who worked at the Department of Justice. “The main benefit [for Republicans] is Trump is breathing a sigh of relief because it makes it hard for Merrick Garland to authorize a prosecution of Donald Trump, even if it is merited.”
Biden last fall was shown a photo of top secret documents laid out on the floor at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Biden voiced disbelief during an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” about how something like that could happen — how anyone, in his words, “could be that irresponsible.”
It was two months after that, on Nov. 2, that his lawyers discovered a small batch of classified documents in one of Biden’s offices in…
Read More: Biden document furor could muddy Democrats’ efforts to blast Trump
