US President Joe Biden sees his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election in jeopardy: the Democratic tenant of the White House is the protagonist of a saga about secret documents found in his offices and apartments. And the risk is very high: Biden’s story, very similar to that of his predecessor Donald Trump, could cause political damage to the current White House tenant.
What’s up
The story has been fueling the political debate in the United States for several weeks. The latest episode comes from last week, when FBI agents searched the President’s home in Wilmington, Delaware on January 20: Here the FBI agents found six more classified papers (from the English term “classified”: the documents are therefore confidential, but do not qualify for the highest level of confidentiality), which were not returned to authorities at the end of his vice presidency in 2017. Agents also found some notes from Biden, which also related to the vice presidency during that time of the Barack Obama administration. The nature of the cards unveiled last Friday was not specified. However, the point is legal: classified information cannot be taken away and must be handed over to the National Archives by any administration at the end of its mandate.
These are the latest in a large series of documents found on the premises of the President’s residence by the FBI on the recommendation of Special Attorney Robert Hur (appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland). Other papers were found about ten days ago, while other documents were found in an office at one of its research centers in Washington in November. With the midterm elections only days away, the news of the discovery of the confidential papers was not yet out: it was too dangerous to compromise the vote that has already seen the Republicans take the House of Representatives.
The story is reminiscent of the Trump case
The story shares some similarities with that of the confidential documents found in some of former President Donald Trump’s private apartments. However, there is a key difference between the two cases. It was Biden’s lawyers, of all people, who reported to the Justice Department the existence of confidential documents in the US President’s private residence and offered their cooperation for new searches. The cooperative attitude did not make it necessary to resort to a judicial mandate.
Biden’s lawyers are emphasizing the legal differences to the case in which ex-President Trump was the protagonist: Unlike his predecessor, the current tenant of the White House did not intentionally steal the documents and reported their possession immediately when he discovered that he had them .
Transparency is key to understanding the differences with Trump’s case. In fact, at the end of his term, the former president had brought confidential papers to his Mar a Lago residence, upon discovery of which Trump was consistently hostile to stops and searches at his Florida residence and refused to return the documents to the National Archives.
The story has obviously been politically exploited by Republicans and by Biden’s various opponents, starting with Trump. However, the president said he was “surprised” by the presence of confidential documents at his home. A statement that fits into a broad legal context. It is a criminal offense to keep confidential material that should be kept in the National Archives when the documents are knowingly removed and kept in unauthorized locations. However, it is difficult for the authorities to prove the deliberate removal of documents by members of the administration.
The serious consequences for Biden
The new revelations come as the Biden administration prepares for its first major task since taking office exactly two years ago. Ron Klain, the president’s chief of staff, would prepare to step down, likely after Biden’s State of the Union address on February 7. The decision would have been made by Klain after last November’s midterm elections and had nothing to do with the case of confidential documents at Biden’s home. Klain, 61, is considered a longtime confidant of the president, having worked with him first during Biden’s tenure as a senator and then early in his tenure as vice president under Barack Obama. In his place, the Biden administration plans to appoint Jeff Zients as White House chief of staff.
Biden is therefore threatened with an internal earthquake. In addition to Klain’s resignation, the US President is preparing for the biggest political challenge since the beginning of his term in office, just before he starts his re-nomination in 2024. But the Democrats stand by his side. Party comrades defended the president and praised the cooperative behavior of Biden’s lawyers with the Justice Department as the search for more classified material continues.