The News Not Noise Letter: No, Trump's not the victim of a DOJ double standard. Here's why.
Trump says Biden/Obama/Clinton did it too and the DOJ is out to get him and you! What you need to know to counter the misinformation.
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Hi happy Monday. I vow not to turn this into an all-Trump all-the time newsletter. There is other important information and we don’t want to devote another summer to Trump’s outrages, do we?
Answer: No, we do not.
I hear you. That said, Trump’s arraignment this week is an unprecedented event. Trump, many of his allies, and even some of his opponents (hello Gov DeSantis) are on misinformation overdrive. Today, I’ll address their main claims and give you enough context to respond knowledgeably when Uncle Bob insists that Biden/Obama/Clinton did the same thing and didn’t get prosecuted. Long story short: no they did not. Here are the facts:
Trump says Joe Biden had 1850 boxes at the University of Delaware. The News Not Noise breakdown:
Facts: In 2012 Biden donated 1870+ boxes containing his papers from his time in the US Senate. They are there legally. The US government has access to them if/when they want it.
The law: There is no federal law governing the ownership of a senator’s papers once the senator leaves office, provided those papers don’t contain classified material. In some cases state law governs but under federal law a senator can: toss the papers, frame the papers, publish the papers; many donate them to their alma mater, which is what Biden did. This was legal, announced to the public, and they remain there today.
No classified papers: CBS News reported that in February of 2023, the FBI searched the Biden papers at the University of Delaware and found no classified materials.
Key difference, presidential records: In contrast, there is a law governing the ownership of presidential records. It’s called The Presidential Records Act and it states that “the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents that were created or received after January 20, 1981” are the property of the public – not the office holder. It further says that “Presidential records automatically transfer into the legal custody of the Archivist as soon as the President leaves office.” It outlines how these documents must be handled.
Key difference, classified materials: Importantly, these rules apply to all presidential papers — including material that is not secret. Additional laws apply to the removal and retention of classified presidential material. That's why Trump is charged with 31 counts of willful retention of national-defense information. He faces one count for each classified document the prosecution plans to present at trial. (The FBI found many more documents in its search of Mar-a-Lago which will not be presented in court – some may be too sensitive to reveal to a jury.)
TL;DR: Trump’s papers as president are governed by the Presidential Records Act and his classified documents are covered by additional laws. No similar statute applies to unclassified papers from Biden’s time as senator. The Biden documents at the University of Delaware are there legally. You can read an explanation of the Presidential Records Act here it’s very accessible and understandable.
Trump says Biden had more boxes in Chinatown, at the University of Pennsylvania and his house. Is that true and why isn’t he facing charges? What about a corvette? The News Not Noise breakdown:
Facts: President Biden’s lawyers were packing his materials for a move, found classified docs, notified the government and handed them over. They agreed to conduct additional searches and found more documents at Biden’s home, including in a locked garage that also stores a corvette. The FBI searched all these locations. CBS News reported that in total they found 25-30 classified documents.
Key Difference: The fact that Team Biden willingly turned over the documents is no small thing. It’s everything. The problem for Trump isn’t possession it’s lack of cooperation. None of the charges Trump faces relate to the documents he willingly handed over to the US government.
Rewind: According to the indictment, on January 17, 2022 “nearly one year after Trump left office and after months of demands by NARA for Trump to provide all missing presidential records” Trump returned 15 boxes of documents that contained 197 documents with classified markings. He was not charged for possessing any of these documents.
In other words, Trump isn’t in trouble for simply possessing classified documents. Trump is charged for refusing to cooperate after he was asked (repeatedly, by the FBI and others) to turn over the documents and for obstructing justice. If he’d just given them back he wouldn’t be facing these charges.
Biden Special Counsel: The DOJ appointed a special counsel to investigate the discovery of classified documents in Biden’s possession. That investigation is ongoing. The DOJ is not ignoring this. Here’s a good fact check with more detail.
