News/Commentary

Obama refuses to say if he’s searching for classified documents

January 25, 2023 | | Print Article

Former President Obama’s office told reporters “We have nothing for you at this time,” when asked if he would conduct a search for classified documents following material showing up in President Biden’s and former Vice President Mike Pence’s possession.

Hannah Hankins, who is the communications director for Obama, told Fox News Digital that they basically had no comment on the issue. The former president has residences in four different cities that include Washington, DC; Chicago; Martha’s Vineyard; and New York City.

This comes as The New York Times is bemoaning the fact that Biden’s scandal is going to make it much harder to go after former President Trump over classified material found at his Mar-a-Lago residence.

Notably, Trump had executive privilege when it came to declassifying documents. However, Biden and Pence did not as vice presidents. Five separate searches have unearthed more and more classified material that Biden seems to have carelessly left in his wake at a former office and at his residences. Pence also had classified documents at his home in Indiana despite previously claiming he didn’t. Trump is defending Pence over it.

The search for material is spreading out and, to head off criticism, George W. Bush’s office preemptively stated that he turned over all classified documents upon leaving the White House. Former President Clinton’s and Obama’s offices issued similar statements, according to CNN.

All of this is about to make prosecuting Trump much harder according to some legal experts, and the media is in a tizzy over it.

“Politically it has effectively let former President Donald J. Trump off the hook for hoarding secret papers,” wrote a crestfallen Peter Baker, who is the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times.

David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to Obama, insisted to Baker that although Trump’s actions and Biden’s were dramatically different, “in the court of public opinion” they may be perceived as equal.

The left is running with any poll they can find that claims Trump’s actions are worse than Biden’s. They are quoting an ABC News and Ipsos poll that ostensibly shows 77 percent of participants believe Trump acted inappropriately in handling classified documents, and 64 percent said Biden had. Most Americans are smart enough to know that you can get a poll to say whatever you want these days and they are virtually meaningless most of the time.

Trump is defending himself, telling supporters at a rally on Tuesday that he is “being persecuted” by a “Trump-deranged” special prosecutor while Biden “is being given white-glove treatment.” He also took his defense to Truth Social.

 

Stanley M. Brand, a Washington, D.C. lawyer who previously served as general counsel to the House of Representatives, told the New York Times that Trump could potentially challenge being targeted.

“There is also the issue of selective prosecution: treating similar cases differently based on a suspect classification or criteria,” Brand commented.

He noted that Attorney General Merrick Garland is now in the difficult position of being appointed by Biden and overseeing the special counsel investigating him.

“I would allege that as an appointee of the president, he is conflicted,” he said pointing out an obvious conflict of interest. “A conflict that can’t be resolved by appointment of a special counsel, since under the DOJ regulation he retains ultimate responsibility.”

There was a ton of reaction on social media over the possibility of classified material being found in Obama’s possession:

https://twitter.com/AntonioSabatoJr/status/1618213932094881795

Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE

Latest posts by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles