Big Media Claim Biden’s Mishandling of Classified Documents is ‘Different’ from Trump’s Case

The establishment media are claiming President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents being kept at UPenn is different than former President Donald Trump’s incident of allegedly keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago — taking pains to call Biden’s case “smaller scale.”

While Trump’s incident culminated in the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Largo and a special counsel investigation, no such measures have been taken by Biden’s Justice Department in the case of Biden’s mishandling of classified documents.

The media have refused to acknowledge the double standard, despite Biden’s mishandling of classified national security information.

CNN’s Stephen Collinson claimed Biden’s incident “appears to be on a smaller scale than the more than 100 classified documents.” Collinson also suggested that Biden was appearing to cooperate with the Justice Department while Trump did not, a point disputed by the former president. 

CNN already downplaying Biden's theft of classified docs pic.twitter.com/Zx34kP4HYu

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 10, 2023

The Washington Post’s Tyler Pager, Devlin Barrett, Jacqueline Alemany, and Perry Stein claimed Biden’s incident was less concerning because Biden’s attorney, Richard Sauber, discovered the president’s mishandling of sensitive documents and “voluntarily” gave them to Biden’s DOJ.

“Sauber said the Biden documents were discovered by the president’s lawyers and voluntarily turned over to authorities,” the Post’s reporters wrote, alleging the maneuver “could factor heavily in whether the Biden documents become a criminal matter.”

CNN is giving Biden the benefit of the doubt it's never given Trump for failing to turn over his own highly classified records to the Nat'l Archives (in violation of the PRA), including claiming what Biden did was an "honest mistake" stemming from "bad packing" at the White House

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) January 10, 2023

Politico’s Josh Gerstein defended Biden by pointing to three alleged distinctions between Biden’s and Trump’s cases. Gerstein claimed Biden’s mishandling of documents was not serious because the documents are small in number, that the documents were not in safe keeping at a residence, and that it is not unusual “for small numbers of emails or documents that are classified to get mixed in with unclassified records.”

Gerstein did not mention that anonymous Chinese donations have reportedly been given to a University of Pennsylvania “think tank,” where Biden stored the sensitive documents.

Politico Playbook also dismissed Biden’s mistake as simply the latest conservative narrative the new Republican House will use to discredit the president.

“[I]n the opening days of the new Republican House, you couldn’t have a more striking reminder of why the majority — and the ability that comes with it to ask questions, drive a narrative and otherwise keep a story in the news — matters,” the morning newsletter read.
Meanwhile, critics have slammed Biden and his DOJ for upholding a double standard of justice.

“When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the third highest-ranking House Republican, questioned why the FBI had not raided the University of Pennsylvania.

“Where is the FBI raid on the Joe Biden crime family after the revelations that he stole classified materials while serving as Vice President and stored these documents at Biden’s ‘think tank’ that has received over $50 million in Chinese gifts?” she told Breitbart News.

“The American people do not trust Joe Biden’s FBI and Department of Justice who have consistently tipped the scale of justice to fulfill their political ambitions and attack their political opponents. Joe Biden and his corrupt DOJ must be held accountable,” she added.

Jenna Ellis questioned why the DOJ has not appointed a special counsel to investigate Biden. “Biden’s DOJ is reviewing Biden’s classified docs? Maybe should *checks notes* consider a special master,” she said.

Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the top Republican on the Oversight Committee, asked when the FBI would raid the White House.

“Is the White House going to be raided tonight? Are they going to raid the Biden center?” Comer asked reporters. “I don’t know. But, you know, this is further concern that there’s a two-tier justice system within the DOJ with how they treat Republicans versus Democrats.”