Donald Trump’s classified documents scandal was already a serious problem for the former president, both legally and politically. Last week, however, it went from bad to worse when the public learned of a new, superseding indictment filed by special counsel Jack Smith and federal prosecutors that raised new allegations.
The original case against Trump was itself brutal, accused the former president of allegedly taking and keeping highly sensitive national security documents, and storing them around his glorified country club — including, famously, in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom. That same indictment accused the Republican of allegedly suggesting that his attorney lie to the FBI, directing an aide to move boxes in order to conceal them, suggesting that his attorney “hide or destroy” documents in the hopes of defying a federal subpoena, and twice showing classified materials to people who lacked security clearances.
The revised case indicated that prosecutors also have reason to believe that Trump tried to destroy evidence — and conspired with others to make it happen.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was asked for his thoughts on the developments. As CNN reported, it didn’t go especially well.
“What concerns me is you have a sitting president that has a situation like this, but even worse, that had documents, but nothing’s happened,” McCarthy told CNN’s Manu Raju. “The president, when he was a senator, he took a document. How many years is that and there’s been no prosecution?”
Right off the bat, the idea that “nothing’s happened” to Biden is bizarre. The president voluntarily disclosed that he’d uncovered and returned classified materials, at which point Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel — a Trump-appointed prosecutor — to launch a thorough investigation.
That probe is ongoing, and by all appearances, Biden and his team have cooperated.
What’s more, McCarthy feigned confusion over why “there’s been no prosecution” after Biden “took a document” years ago. As the House speaker really ought to understand by now, simply having a document isn’t, as a legal matter, the same thing as refusing to return a document and sharing it with those who lack security clearance.
Indeed, there were plenty of materials that Trump took and gave back to the National Archives, and those documents weren’t a part of the indictment.
To be sure, there’s no great mystery behind McCarthy’s motivations: The House speaker is driven by raw partisanship, so when asked about the former president’s indictment, McCarthy quickly tried to change the subject. It was an example of whataboutism at its most obvious.
But it was also problematic in ways the California Republican probably didn’t think through. Indeed, his use of the word “worse” stood out for a reason. If McCarthy had downplayed the importance of taking classified documents, that might plausibly serve as the basis for some kind of Trump defense. Instead, the House speaker said what “concerns” him is Biden returning documents — which hadn’t even been requested — which McCarthy characterized as “worse.” This is an argument that cuts against Trump more than it helps. If McCarthy expects people to believe the Democratic president did something outrageous with actions that appear to have been fairly innocuous, then defending Trump’s actions is vastly more difficult. Let’s make this plain: Did Biden insist on keeping materials he wasn’t supposed to have? Did he defy a subpoena? Did he encourage anyone to lie? Did he deliberately show sensitive national security information to people without security clearances? Did he conspire to destroy potentially incriminating evidence? If the correct answer to each of these questions is no, then how exactly does the House speaker expect anyone to see the Democrat’s actions as “worse”?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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