Trump argues he should ‘not be charged’ in classified docs case if Biden isn’t

Former President Trump argued Friday night that he should “not be charged” in his federal classified documents case since a special counsel announced this week that President Biden would not face charges for Biden’s handling of classified materials.

“If Biden is not going to be charged, he said, that’s up to them, you know, look, if he’s not going to be charged, that’s up to them, but then I should not be charged,” Trump said speaking at an event for the National Rifle Association.

Special counsel Robert Hur was investigating Biden’s handling of classified materials and how documents from his time as vice president ended up at an old office space and his Wilmington, Del., home. Hur determined that Biden “willfully” retained the documents but did not bring forth any charges.

“It was just announced that Joe Biden’s Department of Injustice will bring zero charges against crooked Joe despite the fact he willfully retained, willfully retained, undisclosed droves of ultra-classified national security documents,” Trump said, according to The Associated Press. “Now, that’s not what I’ve been hearing and he’s not under the Presidential Records Act, which is a big thing, I am. It’s a protective act.”

Trump, who has used the investigation into Biden’s documents as a way to show the similarities between the two presidents, said the Department of Justice is “trying desperately” to spin the case to have a narrative that “wasn’t Trump worse by comparison?”

“Trump was peanuts by comparison,” he said.  

Authorities collected 90 documents from Biden’s Delaware property, 50 of them contained classified markings. They also took handwritten notes.

Trump faces 40 charges claiming he mishandled classified records and tried to obstruct the government from retrieving them after he left the White House. The files allegedly contained national defense and weapons information, including some that had top secret markings.

The FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago property in August 2022 and he has pleaded not guilty. Trial is set to begin in May 2024, but a judge will reconsider a timeline at a March 1 meeting.

After Hur released his report on the inquiry into Biden’s handling of classified documents, Trump posted angrily online, deeming the decision “selective prosecution.”

Trump and Biden are front-runners in their respective party races for the 2024 presidential election later this year.