Even before he was formally indicted on 37 federal charges, Donald Trump has claimed the classified documents investigation into him is a “witch hunt” and that he acted in the same manner as current and former presidents have done.
Trump is accused under Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of illegally retaining classified documents after he left the White House and then obstructing the federal attempt to retrieve them from his Mar-a-Lago resort.
On Friday, the indictment against the former president was unsealed, revealing he faces 31 counts of willful retention of classified documents in violation of the Espionage Act, as well as conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements to investigators.
In his defense, Trump has repeatedly cited that Biden has not been charged by the DOJ despite also having been found to have been in possession of classified materials.
In January 2022, classified documents from the Barack Obama-era were found at Biden’s private home in Wilmington, Delaware, as well as at a Washington D.C. think tank office Biden previously used.
“The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax, even though Joe Biden has 1850 Boxes at the University of Delaware, additional Boxes in Chinatown, D.C., with even more Boxes at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents strewn all over his garage floor where he parks his Corvette, and which is ‘secured’ by only a garage door that is paper thin, and open much of the time,” Trump posted on Truth Social on June 8.
The “1850 boxes” of materials which Trump refers to are from Biden’s time as a Senator, which are not classified. Senators are also not required to hand over their documents to the National Archives when they leave office, which Trump is accused of willfully failing to do after he left the White House in 2021.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed special counsel Robert Hur to investigate the appearance of classified documents at Biden’s home and former D.C. office on January 12.
Little is known about the state of Hur’s investigation, nor the circumstances which resulted in Biden still being in possession of the classified materials.
According to CNN, Hur does not appear to be using a grand jury to hear evidence as part of his probe and has so far only sought the testimony of one person, Biden’s former executive assistant Kathy Chung.
NBC News, citing unnamed sources, recently reported that the investigation into Biden’s handling of classified materials is far from its conclusion, and that the president himself has yet to even speak to prosecutors.
In comparison, several people connected to Trump, including his former spokesperson Taylor Budowich, staff members at Mar-a-Lago, more than 20 members of Trump’s Secret Service detail and his ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows, all testified to a grand jury as part of Smith’s classified documents probe.
One major difference between the federal investigation into Biden and the former president’s is that Biden is not accused of attempting to obstruct the federal attempt to retrieve the documents found at his properties and former offices.
Biden’s lawyers previously said they have cooperated at every step of the investigation and returned all classified materials found in the office and the Wilmington house upon their immediate discovery.
Elsewhere, prosecutors recently confirmed that charges will not be filed against Former Vice President Mike Pence after a “small number of documents” were found his Indiana home.
Pence, who had been interviewed during the probe, had also fully cooperated with the inquiry and was not accused of trying to prevent the federal attempt to retrieve the documents.
Newsweek has contacted the DOJ and the White House for further comment via email.
