I previously reported on the status of the Special Counsel investigation into Joe Biden's handling of classified documents three days ago.
Much of the media likes to compare the situation with that of former President Donald Trump, and yes, they are very different. That's not good for Biden if the Special Counsel were looking at the situation honestly.
Trump, as President, may have had the ability to declassify and the documents were shipped to one location, in a home protected by the Secret Service. Joe Biden had classified documents all over the place -- at his office, in his home, and out in his garage, next to the Corvette. Biden also didn't always have Secret Service protection. Plus the documents found at the Penn Biden Center had an interim stop at a storage facility in Chinatown for six months before they reached his office, and his office was in a public building.
Kathy Chung, a woman recommended to assist Joe Biden by Hunter Biden was involved in the movement of the documents. So who knows what she saw, if anything.
The Biden team told us all kinds of shifting stories about the documents, not telling the full story initially of how many things had been found. NARA was going to tell the public but was then ordered not to. We were only told because CBS broke the story about the documents found at the Penn Biden Center, not because Biden revealed the problem. Otherwise we probably never would have been told.
Let us also not forget that classified documents found at the Penn Biden Center allegedly referred to Ukraine. So the big question is: did he have them because of the family's dealings in Ukraine and what was going on there? Plus he hadn't been at the office in a while, so how secure was it in a public building?
Then, there was also the question of the document/s that Joe Biden himself mentioned from 1974. What's the excuse for him as a Senator to have such a document when you have to view everything in a SCIF and can't walk out with such documents?
So to me, that doesn't seem light. Or a mistake. Rather it appears to be a constant flouting of the rules/law in regard to classified documents.
I wrote about how the ABC was describing the investigation so far as casting a "wide net" with lots of interviews.
Now the word is that the Special Counsel has interviewed more top Biden aides. In addition to Secretary of State Antony Blinken -- who knew Biden for years, knew Hunter, and was involved at the Penn Biden Center -- which was mentioned in the ABC report, the new NY Times report indicates they've also interviewed Steve Ricchetti, perhaps one of the closest aides to Biden who has been with him for years and used to advise the Clintons. Richetti has been responsible for organizing Biden's post-vice-presidential life, including his book deal and the initial aspects of his 2020 campaign. They also spoke to Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, another guy who worked with Hillary Clinton and was involved in spreading the Russia Collusion hoax; Ron Klain, Biden's former chief of staff; and Michael Carpenter, the managing director of the Penn Biden Center.
The NY Times described the investigation in ways that were similar and different from ABC. The NY Times report said the investigation was not comparable in scope to that of Trump. So that sounds like less than a "wide net." But it also said it wasn't comparable in "seriousness," and that seems to match what the ABC report was suggesting. ABC said sources were suggesting Biden somehow having classified documents everywhere was just a "mistake."
Here's a line that sort of typifies the problem with the reporting from the NY Times, "Mr. Biden’s lawyers immediately notified the National Archives upon discovering the classified documents in late 2022 and have since cooperated with the Justice Department."
Notice that there is nothing about why/how the NARA was shut down from reporting this to the public as they had intended to. Remember, this is in the context of the media and Democrats going off on the classified documents in regard to Trump. So Biden knew he had a similar problem, but kept quiet about it and NARA was made to keep quiet about it. That's called a cover-up, ladies and gentlemen. But the NY Times seems less than interested in being journalists about it. Then we weren't told until Jan. 2023, from a report by CBS. None of that is covered in this NY Times report. So while the NY Times is trying to paint Biden as transparent, he was far from it.
What the Special Counsel still hasn't done yet is interview Joe Biden. And one thing that was intriguing from the ABC report that might indicate that they were serious was that they were looking into Biden's note-taking in regard to the classified documents. If he took notes on classified documents while he had them in his possession that would be evidence that he knew he had the documents, that they just didn't discover them at the end of 2022. If they were used in regard to a Hunter Biden email, as some suggested might have occurred, that would also be another big problem.
So we'll have to see how this continues to roll out, but as I said, I wouldn't bet a lot on them holding Biden to account.