Tipsheet

Where's the DOJ Special Counsel for Biden's Mishandling of Classified Info?

On Monday night news broke that classified information was improperly stored in a private, vice presidential office belonging to President Joe Biden. 

In August 2022, the FBI carried out an armed raid on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate after claiming he inappropriately kept classified documents on property. Agents not only went through his office, but former First Lady Melania Trump's closet and the room of son Barron Trump. 

In November, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed an outside special counsel to handle the case after Trump announced his 2024 presidential run. 

“Based on recent developments, including the former President’s announcement that he is a candidate for President in the next election, and the sitting President’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel,” Garland said. “Such an appointment underscores the Department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. It also allows prosecutors and agents to continue their work expeditiously, and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.”

Unlike President Trump's ability to declassify information, as vice president Biden had no such authority. And yet, Garland is refusing to appoint an independent, outside special counsel to handle the matter. Instead, Biden's politicized DOJ will have jurisdiction over the case.