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Biden's SCOTUS Snow Job.
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Joe purposely stuck his finger in the GOP's eyes. That is his style.
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More commentary on SCOTUS.+++
Biden tangles with GOP in raucous State of the Union — barely mentions China
By Steven Nelson
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s State of the Union address promised a call for unity, but his repeated pokes at Republicans — complete with glaring falsehoods and several disputed claims — saw the speech devolve into a near-shouting match Tuesday night.
The 80-year-old president began his 72-minute speech appearing to follow through on the White House’s “unity” messaging spin — warmly greeting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and drawing laughs by telling him: “I don’t want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you.”
By the end of the night, any bipartisan feeling had disappeared as Biden wrongly accused the GOP of trying to abandon America’s seniors, while Republicans in the audience challenged him over issues like illegal immigration, the surge in fentanyl overdoses, and the threat of China — with the president barely mentioning America’s great adversary days after a spy balloon from the communist aggressor traversed the US last week.
No attack from the president caused more GOP uproar than his insistence that “instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset.”
The furious reaction left Biden attempting to calm the heckling by saying, “I’m not saying it’s a majority.”
“Anybody who doubts it, contact my office, I’ll give you a copy of the proposal,” Biden attempted to counter the loud jeers.
“Liar!” shouted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
“I’m glad to see — no, I tell you, I enjoy conversion,” Biden said, trying to play off the awkward and contentious moment.
Biden has repeatedly claimed that the GOP wants to cut Social Security and Medicare — despite McCarthy repeatedly and publicly ruling that out as he and other conservatives push for cuts to discretionary spending and a clawback of unspent pandemic stimulus funds as part of a debt ceiling impasse.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) even tweeted during the speech that it was Biden who was cutting into the social safety net by proposing a $3 billion reduction to the enhanced-benefits Medicare Advantage program, writing, “It’s @JoeBiden, NOT Republicans, who is proposing Medicare Advantage cuts…. this is especially cruel.”
The president managed to get the chamber back onside moments later by calling on members of both parties to “Stand up and show them: We will not cut Social Security! We will not cut Medicare!” The members duly obliged with a standing ovation.
The House chamber — packed with senators, Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices and other US government leaders — again descended into chaos as Biden talked about surging fentanyl overdoses amid criticism that he has not done enough to counter the scourge of the deadly, largely China-sourced synthetic compound.
“Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year,” Biden said, provoking indignant outbursts.
China spy balloonThe president made little mention of China or its spy balloon during the speech.AP
Greene shouted the drug was from “China.”
“It’s your fault,” an unknown man shouted at Biden. “It’s your fault,” another male voice echoed, though it was unclear if it was the same person.
“So let’s launch a major surge to stop fentanyl production, end the sale and trafficking, with more drug detection machines, inspection of cargo to stop pills and powder at the border,” Biden said — without any direct mention of the source nation of the chemicals.
“If Joe Biden were serious about wanting to crack down on illegal fentanyl distribution, he would start by securing our southern border,” the official House Republican Twitter account reacted in real time.
Biden only mentioned the US-Mexico border five times in his prepared remarks, alternating between taking dubious credit for record-high arrests and seizures of fentanyl and calling on Congress to do more.
“If you don’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, then at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border,” he begged.
The president also made no mention of surging crime in America’s cities, despite recognizing the parents of fatal police beating victim Tyre Nichols and calling for greater reforms in law enforcement.
“I think we need more transparency. I’m always for reform. I think that in any profession they’re bad actors, they’re certainly bad cops, and I think they need to be held accountable,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) told NBC News after the speech.
“One of the problems that I’ve heard from different people involved in municipalities is, obviously there’s a shortage of police and police move around a lot and there’s often not a record of police officers who have reputations of using excessive force … [I would support] a database for officers that use excessive force, right, absolutely.”
Biden, who is gearing up for a 2024 re-election campaign despite already being the oldest-ever president, also made little mention of China despite wall-to-wall news coverage last week of Beijing’s large spy balloon, which was allowed to drift over Alaska before crossing from Montana to South Carolina unmolested, before it was finally shot down Saturday off the Atlantic Coast.
“Today we are the strongest position in decades to compete with China or anyone else in the world,” Biden said.
“I’m committed to work with China where we can advance American interests and benefit the world, but make no mistake about it, as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country, and we did.”
“China’s spying,” remarked Greene, who carried a much smaller white balloon through the halls of Congress earlier in the day to provide a visible reminder of the White House’s inaction.
“Biden: We will act to protect our country against China,” tweeted Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) in response. “Reality: A Chinese spy balloon just surveilled our land-based nuclear arsenal while crossing the entire mainland United States.”
“A Chinese spy balloon just floated over our country for a week,” added Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa). “Millions of Americans have TikTok downloaded on their phones. Where is President Biden’s plan to take on the CCP surveillance state?”
“The Biden Administration wasn’t concerned about the Chinese spy balloon until it became a problem for them in the media cycle,” charged Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.). “Why does the President care more about what the press thinks than our national security?”
A tweet from McCarthy’s official account noted at the 60-minute mark of the speech that “President Biden hasn’t mentioned China or our border once. But he’s proposed raising taxes three times. Tells you where his priorities lie.”
Biden did indeed call for reinstituting a so-called “billionaire’s tax” on the wealthiest Americans to pay for increased spending on Medicaid, universal pre-K access, affordable housing, and climate change mitigation — despite already signing off on trillions of dollars in spending over his first two years in office.
While the president focused on economics, the Republican response by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders focused on social issues like critical race theory in schools and censorship of conservatives by Big Tech.
“In the radical left’s America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves, and our children are taught to hate one another on account of their race, but not to love one another or our great country,” she said.
“The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left,” she added. “The choice is between normal or crazy.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++By Steven Nelson
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s State of the Union address promised a call for unity, but his repeated pokes at Republicans — complete with glaring falsehoods and several disputed claims — saw the speech devolve into a near-shouting match Tuesday night.
The 80-year-old president began his 72-minute speech appearing to follow through on the White House’s “unity” messaging spin — warmly greeting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and drawing laughs by telling him: “I don’t want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you.”
By the end of the night, any bipartisan feeling had disappeared as Biden wrongly accused the GOP of trying to abandon America’s seniors, while Republicans in the audience challenged him over issues like illegal immigration, the surge in fentanyl overdoses, and the threat of China — with the president barely mentioning America’s great adversary days after a spy balloon from the communist aggressor traversed the US last week.
No attack from the president caused more GOP uproar than his insistence that “instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset.”
The furious reaction left Biden attempting to calm the heckling by saying, “I’m not saying it’s a majority.”
“Anybody who doubts it, contact my office, I’ll give you a copy of the proposal,” Biden attempted to counter the loud jeers.
“Liar!” shouted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
“I’m glad to see — no, I tell you, I enjoy conversion,” Biden said, trying to play off the awkward and contentious moment.
Biden has repeatedly claimed that the GOP wants to cut Social Security and Medicare — despite McCarthy repeatedly and publicly ruling that out as he and other conservatives push for cuts to discretionary spending and a clawback of unspent pandemic stimulus funds as part of a debt ceiling impasse.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) even tweeted during the speech that it was Biden who was cutting into the social safety net by proposing a $3 billion reduction to the enhanced-benefits Medicare Advantage program, writing, “It’s @JoeBiden, NOT Republicans, who is proposing Medicare Advantage cuts…. this is especially cruel.”
The president managed to get the chamber back onside moments later by calling on members of both parties to “Stand up and show them: We will not cut Social Security! We will not cut Medicare!” The members duly obliged with a standing ovation.
The House chamber — packed with senators, Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices and other US government leaders — again descended into chaos as Biden talked about surging fentanyl overdoses amid criticism that he has not done enough to counter the scourge of the deadly, largely China-sourced synthetic compound.
“Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year,” Biden said, provoking indignant outbursts.
China spy balloonThe president made little mention of China or its spy balloon during the speech.AP
Greene shouted the drug was from “China.”
“It’s your fault,” an unknown man shouted at Biden. “It’s your fault,” another male voice echoed, though it was unclear if it was the same person.
“So let’s launch a major surge to stop fentanyl production, end the sale and trafficking, with more drug detection machines, inspection of cargo to stop pills and powder at the border,” Biden said — without any direct mention of the source nation of the chemicals.
“If Joe Biden were serious about wanting to crack down on illegal fentanyl distribution, he would start by securing our southern border,” the official House Republican Twitter account reacted in real time.
Biden only mentioned the US-Mexico border five times in his prepared remarks, alternating between taking dubious credit for record-high arrests and seizures of fentanyl and calling on Congress to do more.
“If you don’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, then at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border,” he begged.
The president also made no mention of surging crime in America’s cities, despite recognizing the parents of fatal police beating victim Tyre Nichols and calling for greater reforms in law enforcement.
“I think we need more transparency. I’m always for reform. I think that in any profession they’re bad actors, they’re certainly bad cops, and I think they need to be held accountable,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) told NBC News after the speech.
“One of the problems that I’ve heard from different people involved in municipalities is, obviously there’s a shortage of police and police move around a lot and there’s often not a record of police officers who have reputations of using excessive force … [I would support] a database for officers that use excessive force, right, absolutely.”
Biden, who is gearing up for a 2024 re-election campaign despite already being the oldest-ever president, also made little mention of China despite wall-to-wall news coverage last week of Beijing’s large spy balloon, which was allowed to drift over Alaska before crossing from Montana to South Carolina unmolested, before it was finally shot down Saturday off the Atlantic Coast.
“Today we are the strongest position in decades to compete with China or anyone else in the world,” Biden said.
“I’m committed to work with China where we can advance American interests and benefit the world, but make no mistake about it, as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country, and we did.”
“China’s spying,” remarked Greene, who carried a much smaller white balloon through the halls of Congress earlier in the day to provide a visible reminder of the White House’s inaction.
“Biden: We will act to protect our country against China,” tweeted Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) in response. “Reality: A Chinese spy balloon just surveilled our land-based nuclear arsenal while crossing the entire mainland United States.”
“A Chinese spy balloon just floated over our country for a week,” added Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa). “Millions of Americans have TikTok downloaded on their phones. Where is President Biden’s plan to take on the CCP surveillance state?”
“The Biden Administration wasn’t concerned about the Chinese spy balloon until it became a problem for them in the media cycle,” charged Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.). “Why does the President care more about what the press thinks than our national security?”
A tweet from McCarthy’s official account noted at the 60-minute mark of the speech that “President Biden hasn’t mentioned China or our border once. But he’s proposed raising taxes three times. Tells you where his priorities lie.”
Biden did indeed call for reinstituting a so-called “billionaire’s tax” on the wealthiest Americans to pay for increased spending on Medicaid, universal pre-K access, affordable housing, and climate change mitigation — despite already signing off on trillions of dollars in spending over his first two years in office.
While the president focused on economics, the Republican response by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders focused on social issues like critical race theory in schools and censorship of conservatives by Big Tech.
“In the radical left’s America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves, and our children are taught to hate one another on account of their race, but not to love one another or our great country,” she said.
“The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left,” she added. “The choice is between normal or crazy.”
A global economic transformation is upon us.
Perhaps the most disruptive upheaval of the century.
The elites have big plans for a new world order.
The same elites who want you to "own nothing and be happy."
The same elites who insist that "every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed."
The same elites who are pounding the podium and saying…
"All aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions" must be "revamped."
What will this "transformation" ultimately lead to
Your rights… gone.
Your freedoms… gone.
Your free will… gone.
In short… Mass Control.
But there is a way to avoid living under their thumb.
It's all spelled out in a shocking documentary…
America's Last Stand.
This film will open your eyes to the facts and choices you still have left.
For the time being.
Take a look and see for yourself before it's too late.
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Another sign of Biden hypocrisy is that he accuses Republicans of not caring about the constitution yet criticizes them for wanting to interpret it literally. Can't have it both ways. He also said he knew nothing about Hunter's business involvement, yet, flew 12 hours on a plane with his to China.
The man is a total fraud. His role model is Pinocchio.
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Personal observations and what they might man:
a) Palestinian leaders are increasingly aware of their irrelevance so they have raised the level of terrorism and broken their Israeli security tie agreements. Expect more acts of Palestinian terror.
b) Biden and radical Democrats are serious about banning gas stoves. In time they might accomplish this goal.
If these type of assaults on freedom of commercial choice are allowed, our freedoms will soon be subsumed.
(see attachments.)
c) The longer China takes to attack Taiwan, if they even intend to, the less relevant Taiwan becomes as American dependence on Taiwan semi-conductors wanes in importance.
A war games scenario just completed reveals American losses would be significant.
d) The price of gas and oil should begin to accelerate as Chinese demand increases, Biden replenishes our reserves and overall air travel increases. If I am correct, this will sustain the inflation level and put pressure on Fed interest rate decisions.
e) Does the Supreme Court have the guts to end racial discrimination based on affirmative action?
f) Do Republicans have the guts to hang tough on holding Biden's feet to the fire regarding reducing spending?
g) Will ESG investing end? Should environmental, social and governmental factors dictate corporate capital allocation.
h) Is the document investigation shot full of double standards holes ? See attached.
Attachments:
b1)Banning Gas Stoves by Regulation
New Energy Department rules would eliminate most current models.
By The Editorial Board
When progressives can’t pass their agenda through the front door in Congress, they sneak it through a regulatory back window. That’s what the Biden Administration is doing with gas stoves, as the Energy Department this week proposed new rules that amount to a gradual de facto ban.
A Biden appointee on the Consumer Product Safety Commission ignited a firestorm last month by threatening to ban gas stoves. After criticism from West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and others, the CPSC chairman rejected the idea, and White House officials said they didn’t support banning gas stoves.
Then why has the Energy Department proposed new efficiency standards that would ban the sale of most gas stoves currently on the market? The stated purpose of the rule-making is to reduce energy consumption and save consumers money. But these benefits are meager. The department estimates the proposed rule would reduce energy use by a mere 3.4% from the status quo, and consumers on average would save $21.89 over a cook-top’s lifetime.
Even this assumes the standards are technically achievable without compromising performance. A spokesperson for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers tells us that gas cook-tops would have to be completely redesigned to comply. Burners might have to become smaller and heavy grate designs altered, which would increase cooking times.
Twenty of the 21 gas stove-top models that the Energy Department tested wouldn’t comply with its proposed standards. Manufacturers would have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars redesigning stoves, if they bother.
Those costs would be passed to consumers in higher prices. The Energy Department estimates increased appliance prices will be offset by lower energy bills as well as climate and health benefits. But these benefits are speculative while higher product costs and reduced performance will directly harm consumers.
Making appliances more energy efficient involves trade-offs. Consumers and manufacturers may choose to make them, but they shouldn’t be forced. Recall how federal energy-efficiency standards reduced the performance of dishwashers. Machines that once washed and dried dishes in an hour now take two to three, and often still don’t get the job done.
Biden officials claim the proposed gas efficiency standards are feasible. But that’s what they also say about their stringent fuel-economy mandates, which effectively force manufacturers to produce more electric vehicles. In both cases the Administration is using regulation to impose policies and coerce behavior they can’t get Congress to endorse.
The new rules betray that the Administration is trying to eliminate gas stoves by whatever regulatory means possible. The Biden CPSC was preparing to use the Federal Hazardous Substances Act as a pretext to ban them before the public uproar. Richard Trumka Jr.—the commissioner who floated the ban last month—claimed that emissions from gas stoves are a “hidden hazard.” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm flogged a dubious study claiming that 12.7% of childhood asthma cases in the U.S. are attributable to gas stoves.
The Inflation Reduction Act also includes a $840 rebate to buy electric stoves plus $500 to convert from gas. Yes, Americans, they really are coming for your gas stoves.
and
b2) The Campaign to Ban Gas Stoves
Biden and the media deny it exists, but the effort is calculated and well-funded.
By Kimberley A. Strassel
Don’t believe for a second Consumer Product Safety Commission member Richard Trumka Jr.’s slippery claim that they aren’t coming for your stove. Or the media narrative that Republicans are “hyping” a new “culture war” by “pretending” the Biden administration intends to ban gas stoves.
The reason gas stoves are in the news is simple: There is a coordinated, calculated—and well-funded—strategy to kill them off. It’s the joint enterprise of extremely powerful climate groups, working with Biden administration officials who have publicly stated their aim to eliminate all “combustion appliances” in homes. Only after the GOP called them out did anyone pretend otherwise.
Some of this is being exposed in letters sent this week by Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz to CPSC commissioners demanding more information. The letters highlight the primary groups behind this push. One is the Climate Imperative Foundation, which became an overnight green powerhouse and reported more receipts in 2021 than the League of Conservation Voters or the Sierra Club. A board member and funder is Kleiner Perkins billionaire John Doerr, whose climate action plan calls for getting rid of gas cooking. CIF’s executive director, Bruce Nilles, has made the end of gas stoves an imperative, writing in 2019: “Your gas stove has to go.” CIF has granted money to the Rocky Mountain Institute, which has long advocated “retrofitting” existing homes to be “all electric.”
Then there’s Rewiring America, “the leading electrification nonprofit, focused on electrifying our homes, businesses and communities.” And New York University’s Institute for Policy Integrity, which last year called on the CPSC to enact a gas-stove ban.
The stated goal of all these group is killing gas to “save” the planet. Yet they also know Americans won’t give up their stoves in the name of climate. So several years ago this cabal hit on the idea of contradicting decades of science and ginning up hokey studies claiming gas stoves present a “health risk.” The twin goals: scare Americans and give government a pretext to ban gas cooking.
This is how you end up with climate outfits masquerading as health experts. One frequently cited study from the Rocky Mountain Institute—claiming to find a link between gas stoves and childhood asthma—was co-authored by two RMI staffers, neither of whom has a science degree. Another favorite study by New York University’s Institute for Policy Integrity claims gas stoves cause “dangerous levels of indoor air pollution.” It was written by two lawyers, and it cites . . . the RMI study. Ah, science.
Then there’s the paid research. The November edition of the “independent” magazine Consumer Reports was devoted to the “Hidden Health Hazards in Your Home” and explained that its research found an “alarming concern” with levels of nitrogen dioxide from gas stoves. (It also featured a four-page tribute to induction cooktops, the left’s expensive alternative to gas.) Tucked at the end of the article online was an editor’s note: “This project was funded in part with a grant from the Climate Imperative Foundation.” CIF’s 2021 tax filings show a $375,000 donation to Consumer Reports specifically for research on gas stoves
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h1) The Justice Department’s Double Standards on Classified Documents
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The Biden administration is close to these groups and has wholly appropriated their “health” line. It’s been open about using those claims to get rid of gas stoves—following state and local bans. The White House last month held an “electrification summit,” which featured a panel on getting gas out of homes. Nearly every guest (including a representative from Rewiring America) stated the “health” harm of gas stoves as accepted fact, and Trisha Miller of the White House’s Climate Policy Office described the need to “eliminate emissions” by getting rid of all “combustion appliances” in houses (including your washer, dryer and furnace). The electrification agenda is being carried out through the Department of Energy’s Better Climate Challenge, which lists Rewiring America and RMI as “allies.”
This ground laying and coordination is the backdrop for the Trumka explosion. Around the time of the Consumer Reports story—and in the runup to the Electrification Summit—Mr. Trumka circulated a memo titled “NPR Proposing Ban on Gas Stoves (Indoor Air Quality).” (NPR is an acronym for notice of proposed rulemaking.) The Cruz letter says the memo cites the Consumer Reports and NYU studies among reasons Mr. Trumka concludes there is “sufficient information” now to forbid Americans from purchasing new gas stoves. While the Trumka proposal failed, the CPSC initiated a “request for information”—a first step toward a ban.
Only after Bloomberg exposed some of this did the ensuing public furor cause the CPSC and White House to run for cover. But make no mistake: A ban is the plan. Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said at the summit that “if we are going to get to net zero emissions by 2050,” we’ll need electric “cars and buses and home heating and cooking.” The left won’t stop until it has dictated what you drive, where you live, and how you cook.
h2)The Justice Department’s Double Standards on Classified Documents
Biden and Trump both have special counsels. But the president’s lawyers got to conduct his search, while his predecessor’s weren’t even allowed to be present.
Kimberley A. Strassel
The White House can’t be happy that its document scandal has landed President Biden a special-counsel investigation. At the same time, the Justice Department has handled the affair in a way that’s proved convenient for the president.
It’s convenient that the White House was able to keep quiet for nearly 70 days the revelation that Mr. Biden inappropriately retained classified information. The media reported almost immediately in 2022 that the National Archives had asked the Justice Department to examine Donald Trump’s handling of documents and later that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had opened a probe. These unsourced stories contained details only department personnel would know—despite a strict prohibition on discussing or disclosing investigations. In the Biden case, officials managed to keep their mouths shut for months.
It’s convenient that the Biden news didn’t break prior to the midterm elections. In the Trump case, a torrent of leaks and the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago inspired Attorney General Merrick Garland to break the policy of confidentiality. He publicly confirmed the investigation. The first Biden document was found Nov. 2 and the Justice Department knew about it by Nov. 4—four days before voters went to the polls. This time, Mr. Garland scrupulously followed policy and kept silent, allowing Team Biden more than two months to perfect the tidy story of “inadvertent” handling and “full cooperation” it later rolled out.
It’s convenient that the FBI immediately declined to engage in the Biden probe. The Journal reported Tuesday that, soon after the discovery, the Biden team “discussed with the Justice Department the prospect of having FBI agents present while Mr. Biden’s lawyers conducted the additional searches. Instead, the two sides agreed that Mr. Biden’s personal attorneys would inspect the homes.” Nice.
Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy says this decision “boggles the mind.” The initial documents, including some classified at the highest security level, were discovered in an office that didn’t open until 2018—meaning they were moved there from yet another unauthorized location and heightening the likelihood of more document finds. Mr. McCarthy says the Justice Department is “duty bound” to ensure searches are “done by federal law enforcement agents—in this case, the FBI—when there are grounds to believe evidence, especially classified evidence, will be recovered.” Only agents “with high security clearances” could “ensure that the evidence was preserved for investigative purposes, and that national security was thus protected.”
Instead, the process was left entirely to Mr. Biden’s private lawyers, who didn’t have security clearances—allowing them access to national secrets and the potential to glean the nature of the material found (which might be useful in a later Biden defense). It also allowed them to craft the circumstances of the discovery—where they were, their condition, whether they were easily observable. The department allowed this process to continue even after the first tranche of additional documents was discovered—even though this confirmed the potential for yet more.
Biden attorney Bob Bauer in a recent memo laid out the “protocols” the attorneys followed in each instance of a document find, and assured that nobody saw or did anything improper. But this is an extraordinary level of trust—one the Justice Department doesn’t afford others suspected of mishandling classified information. Mr. Trump’s lawyers weren’t allowed to be present when the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago.
Putting the Biden legal team in charge also conveniently meant there would be no public FBI display to equate the Biden document mess to the Trump one. Biden defenders, including the media, continue to insist that what makes this case different is the Biden team’s dedication to discovering and returning classified information. That’s a hard case to make when the FBI takes over the process.
Finally, a little too convenient is the White House’s argument that it can’t speak to any of this given the investigation. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre remained mum even when informed by an NBC reporter that the Justice Department said it hadn’t told the White House it couldn’t speak to the underlying facts.
Mr. Garland is getting praise from the usual quarters for handling the Biden case with discretion, restraint and professionalism. The problem is that these supposed qualities seem to arise depending on partisan circumstances—and the unequal treatment predates Mr. Garland’s tenure. Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden are handled with kid gloves. Carter Page and Donald Trump—not to mention low-profile suspects—face the bluntest federal law-enforcement tools.
Despite all these advantages, Mr. Biden nonetheless faces a special counsel investigation. Yet the history here requires that probe receive extra scrutiny. The Justice Department seems unlikely to be done bestowing conveniences on this president.
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