Opinion: President Biden, there is a there there
Opinion by Alice Stewart
Published 7:22 AM EST, Sun January 22, 2023
CNN
—
“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.”
This age-old typing drill is a good reminder to hit the partisan pause button on the conversation surrounding the potential mishandling of classified information by both the current and former presidents of the United States.
With President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump under separate special counsel investigations, the wheels of justice are in motion on dual tracks. So, now is the time for all good men – and women – to leave the “whataboutism” at the door and come to the aid of our country with an honest assessment of how our elected officials handle classified documents.
It should go without saying that despite the differences in the two cases, the revelations surrounding Biden should be approached with the same standard as those applied to Trump.
As for how Americans regard the two cases, a Quinnipiac University poll this week shows that 60% think Biden acted inappropriately in the way he handled the documents, although only 37% think he should face criminal charges.
As for Trump, Quinnipiac found in August 2022 that 59% of Americans thought Trump acted inappropriately, while 41% thought he should be prosecuted on criminal charges.
In this file photo provided by the White House, a classified document is seen on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office on October 5, 2009.
Opinion: Technology is the answer to the White House's classified documents problems
The numbers are remarkably close, and it’s clear the country shares serious concerns regarding both leaders’ actions, as they seem to be headed for a potential presidential rematch. While the cases are like comparing apples and oranges, here is a look at each side: the revelations, the response, and the resulting fallout in advance of 2024.
Trump’s case is concerning due to the sheer amount of documents involved and his resistance to the government’s attempts to retrieve them. After the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved more than 180 classified documents from Mar-a-Lago in January 2022, the Justice Department issued a subpoena demanding any additional classified documents at the estate. While Trump turned over three dozen more classified documents in June 2022, federal agents then found over 100 more at Mar-a-Lago during a court-approved search at Trump’s Florida home in August.
Trump maintains he declassified the documents, claiming it’s a presidential power that can be executed “even by thinking about it.” To be clear, there’s still no record of how, or if, he actually declassified the information.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/22/opinions/biden-trump-classified-docs-stewart/inde
Opinion by Alice Stewart
Published 7:22 AM EST, Sun January 22, 2023
CNN
—
“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.”
This age-old typing drill is a good reminder to hit the partisan pause button on the conversation surrounding the potential mishandling of classified information by both the current and former presidents of the United States.
With President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump under separate special counsel investigations, the wheels of justice are in motion on dual tracks. So, now is the time for all good men – and women – to leave the “whataboutism” at the door and come to the aid of our country with an honest assessment of how our elected officials handle classified documents.
It should go without saying that despite the differences in the two cases, the revelations surrounding Biden should be approached with the same standard as those applied to Trump.
As for how Americans regard the two cases, a Quinnipiac University poll this week shows that 60% think Biden acted inappropriately in the way he handled the documents, although only 37% think he should face criminal charges.
As for Trump, Quinnipiac found in August 2022 that 59% of Americans thought Trump acted inappropriately, while 41% thought he should be prosecuted on criminal charges.
In this file photo provided by the White House, a classified document is seen on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office on October 5, 2009.
Opinion: Technology is the answer to the White House's classified documents problems
The numbers are remarkably close, and it’s clear the country shares serious concerns regarding both leaders’ actions, as they seem to be headed for a potential presidential rematch. While the cases are like comparing apples and oranges, here is a look at each side: the revelations, the response, and the resulting fallout in advance of 2024.
Trump’s case is concerning due to the sheer amount of documents involved and his resistance to the government’s attempts to retrieve them. After the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved more than 180 classified documents from Mar-a-Lago in January 2022, the Justice Department issued a subpoena demanding any additional classified documents at the estate. While Trump turned over three dozen more classified documents in June 2022, federal agents then found over 100 more at Mar-a-Lago during a court-approved search at Trump’s Florida home in August.
Trump maintains he declassified the documents, claiming it’s a presidential power that can be executed “even by thinking about it.” To be clear, there’s still no record of how, or if, he actually declassified the information.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/22/opinions/biden-trump-classified-docs-stewart/inde
