An ex-F.B.I. assistant director had harsh words for the agency for the definite differences in how it conducted the cases of President Biden and former President Donald Trump and their handling of secret information.
On November 2, 2022, two days before the 2022 midterm elections, the first batch of sensitive papers discovered in Biden’s possession at the Penn Biden Center was made public. Biden’s attorneys said that the rest of the house was searched this week after additional papers were found during a garage search on December 20.
Chris Swecker, who spent 24 years as a special agent with the F.B.I. before retiring as Assistant Director of the Bureau’s Criminal Investigative Division, told media on Saturday that the Justice Department is being easygoing with Biden despite the distinctions between the cases of Trump and Biden.
Swecker said there’s a stark contrast in how similar facts are handled regarding the Bidens—comparing Trump’s treatment during the F.B.I. raid of Mar-a-Lago last year. The F.B.I. seems to be taking the situation with extreme kindness. He noted that the Justice Department appears to be letting Biden’s companions determine what is looked through and what is removed from the homes.
On Saturday, Special Counsel to President Biden, Richard Sauber, released a statement saying that in addition to the two classified documents found in the garage on Thursday, five more pages with classified markings were located at Biden’s Delaware residence on Thursday evening.
According to Sauber, Biden’s lawyers, on Wednesday, stopped looking for additional documents after they found one classified document at Biden’s home once they realized they didn’t have security clearance to view those materials, calling into question the gravity of the situation and the D.O.J.’s apparent reluctance to assist with the search of Biden’s homes and offices.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, responding to Republican demands, appointed a special counsel on Thursday to look into Biden’s allegation that the sensitive documents were misplaced. Garland has recruited Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney, to lead the investigation.
Democrats have praised Biden’s willingness to help the Department of Justice probe the confidential documents. According to a statement released by Sauber, the President’s legal team will continue to cooperate with the Special Counsel’s inquiry, and Biden is very concerned about protecting sensitive information.
Sauber added the President and his legal team moved swiftly upon learning of the missing documents and are convinced that a comprehensive assessment will prove that they were misplaced accidentally.
Based on the current information, Biden is doubtful to be charged, according to Norm Eisen, an ethics expert and Counsel for House Democrats. On the other hand, Trump poses a significant threat due to his obstructionist behavior and other variables not present in the Biden case. Special counsels and confidential documents are the only commonalities between these cases.
President Biden questioned how Trump could be so irresponsible at the time of the F.B.I.’s search of Mar-a-Lago before it was known that he had had confidential information concealed from his time as Vice President.
When asked why the F.B.I. is letting White House aides handle the search of Biden’s Delaware home for additional classified materials, Swecker said that the F.B.I. should have already opened an investigation and that this reminds him of how the agency handled former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was able to avoid charges for her use of a private email server.
Swecker said on the political right, law enforcement deploys SWAT teams and executes search warrants. However, they treat issues on the political left with kid gloves.
The F.B.I. just stormed Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, contrary to Swecker’s claim that they should have subpoenaed him and done so in a method short of an actual raid. This same set of circumstances has been dealt with in different ways.
Swecker said that the documents discovered at the Mar-a-Lago estate were in a far safer location than those found at Bidens Delaware home, where he lived between his role as Vice President and President.