Biden\u2019s retention of classified papers is different from the Mar-a-Lago case, but it is a big setback for his administration
\nThe discovery of government secrets at two locations associated with Joe Biden appears to have produced one big political winner:\u00a0Donald Trump.
\nThe White House was in rare crisis mode last week as it emerged that lawyers for Biden had found classified material at his thinktank in Washington DC and home in Delaware. At an unusually contentious press briefing, one TV correspondent dubbed the affair \u201cgarage-gate\u201d.
\nThe justice department appointed a special counsel to investigate Biden\u2019s handling of classified documents from his time as vice-president. It was a rare setback for an administration that promised to be transparent and scandal-free. It also complicated an investigation into Trump over an ostensibly similar matter.
\nAnother special counsel is already examining the ex-president\u2019s retention of top secret papers at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate and club. Although the situations are very different, the nuances and subtleties are likely to be lost in the court of public opinion.
\n\u201cThis may be pure sloppiness on Biden\u2019s part or the Biden team\u2019s part but it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d said\u00a0Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. \u201cIn the public mind, now they will say, \u2018Well, a pox on both your houses. You\u2019re both guilty. Shame on you both.\u2019 It\u2019s over.\u201d
\nThe issue could become a continuing political headache for Biden, Sabato added. \u201cIt\u2019s just a real distraction. It was totally unnecessary. Every White House makes mistakes and this is a big one they made.\u201d
\nDespite superficial similarities, the two cases are like chalk and cheese. In January last year the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of documents from Trump\u2019s home, telling justice department officials they contained \u201ca lot\u201d of classified material.
\nIn August, after prolonged resistance from Trump\u2019s associates to requests and even a justice department subpoena, FBI agents took about 33 boxes and containers of 11,000 documents from Mar-a-Lago, including roughly 100 with classification markings found in a storage room and an office. The FBI warrant showed it was investigating crimes including the wilful retention of national defence information and efforts to obstruct a federal investigation.
\nThe Biden papers are far less voluminous. First it emerged that a \u201csmall number\u201d with classified markings had been found in November in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center thinktank in Washington.
\nSpeaking to reporters on Tuesday in Mexico City, the president claimed that he was surprised when he was informed about them. His lawyers \u201cdid what they should have done\u201d when they immediately alerted the National Archives, he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s in the documents.\u201d
\nThen came news that a second batch of classified documents had been discovered in the garage at Biden\u2019s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and one additional classified page was found in his personal library there. Again, his lawyers informed the archives.<\/p>\n