- Nov 26, 2011
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"B-b-b-b-b-b-but Clinton!" "B-b-b-b-b-b-b-but Biden!" We've all heard these refrains from the Tu Quoque Brigade in every defense of Donald Trump's crimes.
So here's the difference with respect to the deliberate obstruction by Trump to keep classified documents.
But the historic investigation into the former president was precipitated months earlier, in January 2022, when the former president gave 15 boxes of papers to the National Archives and Records Administration. The agency had been seeking all presidential records from Trump since he left office.
Inside the boxes, archivists found 197 classified documents, some extremely sensitive, the government alleged in court filings. That discovery set in motion the chain of events that led to the unsealing Friday of a 38-count indictment against Trump and Walt Nauta, a trusted servant.
Notably, however, the indictment does not charge Trump with the illegal retention of any of the 197 documents he returned to the archives.
If Trump had returned ALL the classified documents he took, as Biden, Pence, and Clinton had done, there would be no indictment.
It's as simple as that, folks.
Trump chose to hide several boxes of documents, some of which were classified, and that's why his ass is on fire now.
As for Clinton and her emails, what Trump said in private is VASTLY different than the bullshit he feeds to the rube herd:
But when discussing his own possible mishandling case last year, Trump seized on another facet of the Clinton probe: that attorneys for Clinton had reviewed more than 60,000 emails and turned over about 30,000 to government officials because they were deemed related to her official duties. Clinton’s lawyers deleted the rest, about 30,000 emails, after deeming them personal and unrelated to her work. It has long been standard practice in the federal government for officials to review their own correspondence in response to Freedom of Information Act requests and decide which of their emails are personal and therefore not turned over. In Clinton’s case, her lawyers did that for her.
As a candidate and president, Trump denounced the decision to delete the emails. In July 2016, he notoriously declared at a news conference: “Russia: if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
When the grand jury subpoena for any classified documents arrived at his door, however, Trump expressed a very different view to his lawyer, according to the indictment, praising Clinton’s lawyer for deleting the 30,000 emails.
The Clinton lawyer, Trump allegedly said on May 23, 2022, “was the one who deleted all of her emails, the 30,000 emails, because they basically dealt with her scheduling and her going to the gym and her having beauty appointments. And he was great. And he, so she didn’t get in any trouble because he said that he was the one who deleted them.”
“Trump related the story more than once that day,” the indictment notes dryly.
So here's the difference with respect to the deliberate obstruction by Trump to keep classified documents.
Why Trump was charged on secret documents and Clinton, Pence were not
But the historic investigation into the former president was precipitated months earlier, in January 2022, when the former president gave 15 boxes of papers to the National Archives and Records Administration. The agency had been seeking all presidential records from Trump since he left office.
Inside the boxes, archivists found 197 classified documents, some extremely sensitive, the government alleged in court filings. That discovery set in motion the chain of events that led to the unsealing Friday of a 38-count indictment against Trump and Walt Nauta, a trusted servant.
Notably, however, the indictment does not charge Trump with the illegal retention of any of the 197 documents he returned to the archives.
If Trump had returned ALL the classified documents he took, as Biden, Pence, and Clinton had done, there would be no indictment.
It's as simple as that, folks.
Trump chose to hide several boxes of documents, some of which were classified, and that's why his ass is on fire now.
As for Clinton and her emails, what Trump said in private is VASTLY different than the bullshit he feeds to the rube herd:
But when discussing his own possible mishandling case last year, Trump seized on another facet of the Clinton probe: that attorneys for Clinton had reviewed more than 60,000 emails and turned over about 30,000 to government officials because they were deemed related to her official duties. Clinton’s lawyers deleted the rest, about 30,000 emails, after deeming them personal and unrelated to her work. It has long been standard practice in the federal government for officials to review their own correspondence in response to Freedom of Information Act requests and decide which of their emails are personal and therefore not turned over. In Clinton’s case, her lawyers did that for her.
As a candidate and president, Trump denounced the decision to delete the emails. In July 2016, he notoriously declared at a news conference: “Russia: if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
When the grand jury subpoena for any classified documents arrived at his door, however, Trump expressed a very different view to his lawyer, according to the indictment, praising Clinton’s lawyer for deleting the 30,000 emails.
The Clinton lawyer, Trump allegedly said on May 23, 2022, “was the one who deleted all of her emails, the 30,000 emails, because they basically dealt with her scheduling and her going to the gym and her having beauty appointments. And he was great. And he, so she didn’t get in any trouble because he said that he was the one who deleted them.”
“Trump related the story more than once that day,” the indictment notes dryly.
