Trump Appointee to Investigate Biden Documents

CBS News is reporting that "Attorney General Merrick Garland has assigned the U.S. attorney in Chicago to review documents marked classified that were found at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington."

The attorney Garland has assigned is a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney.

Why would he appoint a Trump appointee to investigate classified documents dating to Joe Biden’s vice presidency?

Be informed, not misled.

Garland tapped John Lausch, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, sources have told CBS News. Lausch, who then-President Donald Trump appointed in November 2017, will investigate the documents discovered in Biden’s private office at the Penn Biden Center, some of which bear classified markings and reportedly came from Biden’s office when he was vice president.

The roughly 10 documents are from President Biden's vice-presidential office at the center, the sources said. CBS News has learned the FBI is also involved in the U.S. attorney's inquiry.

Although the documents were discovered back on November 2, 2022, just before the mid-term elections, the discovery only became public this week. Why the delay? 

As they say, "Timing is everything."

Many Republicans and conservatives are asking why Biden has been treated so differently than Trump regarding the same issue of classified documents.

And what about former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, who kept more than 30,000 official emails and at least 110 pieces of classified information documents on a server hidden in the closet of her personal residence?

There was a similar referral surrounding documents in former President Trump's possession---then a short time later, Mar-a-Logo was raided and searched by armed agents at the request of none other than A/G Merrick Garland.

Will Biden's personal home also be raided---or will he be given the Hillary Clinton treatment which amounted to no consequences for clearly breaking trust with American citizens, likely breaking the law and certainly creating a degree of national security risk? 

We'll see what actions, if any, are taken by the Justice Department.

Why would Garland--- a Biden ally, pick a Trump appointee to investigate President Biden?

The Daily Signal, an arm of the Heritage Foundation, answered that question yesterday---at least in part.

John Malcolm, director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal that many questions about the Biden documents remain. 

Malcolm also broke down Garland’s decision to tap a U.S. attorney, Lausch, to investigate.

Here's an overview of what he said:

• Malcolm asked, "How did this come to the attention of the Justice Department? Did the DOJ come to Biden, or did Biden say, ‘I found these documents, I’m letting you know some of these were classified? The one shows he made a mistake and is trying to come clean, the other shows he’s hiding the ball."
• Biden critics are comparing this revelation of the classified documents in Biden’s possession after he left the vice presidency in 2017 to the allegations that Trump kept and concealed classified information from the National Archives after leaving office in 2021, and to Hillary Clinton’s infamous unsecured computer server, on which she stored classified information in emails while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
• He quoted Clay Travis's Twitter post. Clay is the founder of Outkick. “They just announced Joe Biden illegally kept classified documents from his vice presidency in his possession. I’m old enough to remember when the media told me this was impossible,” Travis wrote. “So much for that Trump indictment. Between Hillary and now Biden, this story is over.”

Malcolm drew a contrast between Trump and Biden. I have high respect for the Heritage Foundation and Malcolm, but I'm not sure I agree with him entirely on his take on the matter.

They just announced Joe Biden illegally kept classified documents from his vice-presidency in his possession. I’m old enough to remember when the media told me this was impossible. So much for that Trump indictment. Between Hillary and now Biden, this story is over. pic.twitter.com/Pv5qtqJPqe

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 9, 2023

He continues:

• “Trump is accused of not just taking these documents, but he’s then accused of hiding this stuff and moving it around to prevent DOJ from getting it,” the legal expert said.
• Malcolm added that Garland likely tapped Lausch as an investigtor to protect the Justice Department from criticism.
• He does not want anybody accusing the Department of Justice of hiding, of sweeping criminal conduct under the rug, He wants to make sure there isn’t even an appearance of bias.”

I agree, there are differences between the Trump issue and the Biden issue, but I find it hard to believe that the main motivating factor is to protect the image of the Justice Department.

The DOJ has become so compromised during the Obama-Biden era that there is hardly a pretense left of not being biased in the way matters relating to the Biden and Obama administration are handled.

As I see it.

When NBC TV News reported on this issue a couple of nights ago, the entire story was dedicated to launching the idea that classified documents in Trump's possession are different than classified documents in Bid's possession.

The narrative is and will be that Trump was hiding his documents and Biden's possession was accidental. 

The Hillary incident probably will not be revisited other than by conservative pundits who see and understand it for what it was---a disastrous public service failure that very likely compromised our national security---at least to some degree. 

Another issue that, I think, relates to this matter is the ongoing investigation of Hunter Biden, based on the massive information found on his laptop and other revelations.

U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss has been leading an investigation into Hunter Biden’s laptop information and foreign business deals, conducted both while and after his father was vice president under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017. Weiss’ office reportedly is considering charges regarding nonpayment of taxes and lying to investigators.

Notice that the two charges that Weiss will probably bring against Hunter are both unrelated to his father---President Biden. They are both personal matters related to Hunter.

Once Hunter is charged, it moves the attention away from his father and provides a quick answer to any questions regarding Hunter's extra-curricular business deals that could implicate his father.

The leadership of the justice departments can tell the American public that they have charged Hunter with nonpayment of taxes and lying to investigators---both charges that do not directly implicate his father---as opposed to investigating the actual corrupt enrichment of the Biden family.

I personally believe there is and will continue to be, a massive effort to mislead the public to believe that Trump was deliberately hiding the classified documents in his possession, while Biden's possession of classified documents was accidental and he's a true patriot because he immediately turned them over to authorities.

Corrupt leadership creates corruption in the culture.

Speaking of corruption, consider this from the New York Post last year:

A government watchdog is demanding the US attorney probing Hunter Biden in Delaware investigate tens of millions in anonymous donations from China to the University of Pennsylvania, where an academic center is named for his father, President Biden.

The Ivy League college raked in a total of $54.6 million from 2014 through June 2019 in donations from China, including $23.1 million in anonymous gifts starting in 2016, according to public records.

Most of the anonymous donations came after the university announced in February 2017 that it would create the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Joe Biden, whose term as vice president had just ended, was to lead the center and was also named a professor at the university.

The classified documents that Joe Biden was found to have in his possession were at the "Penn Biden Center."

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.