Tag: classified

Biden torched over classified docs rebuttals: 'What's next, 'Corn Pop did it'?'

After another instance of classified materials being found at properties belonging to or linked to President Biden, critics questioned how much longer he or his defenders can imply inadvertence over the alleged mishandling of the documents.

Reacting on “Hannity” on Monday, Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett said that excuse or defense is further eroded with every new incident of discovery. 

Jarrett also pointed to a federal statute that he suggested counters Biden supporters’ top defense that purported negligence or lack of full knowledge of the misplacement of the documents is a cogent defense of the president – one usually lodged to contrast with the aspects of former President Trump’s classified documents saga in Florida.

“I disagree that intent and knowing and willful is the only standard,” Jarrett said. “If you examine Section F of 18 U.S.C. 793, that also provides for gross negligence or carelessness.”

That particular passage in law reads that “whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document… or information relating to the national defense, through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.”

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Jarrett said that statute, combined with the increasing instances of classified material discoveries “renders inadvertence implausible, and instead seems to be the definition of recklessness; gross negligence, under the statute.”

“So I think legally there would be a fairly strong case.”

Expounding on the president’s rebuttal that the president takes classified document handling “seriously” among other comments, Jarrett riffed the next excuse might be that “Corn Pop did it.”

“I mean, it’s getting to the absurd,” he said, referring to a widely-circulated story Biden told several years ago when the pool at Brown-Burton Winchester Park in Wilmington was being rededicated in his honor.

Biden regaled the crowd with memories of his time as a lifeguard at the pool, just off Governor Printz Boulevard on the north side of town.

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“Corn Pop was a bad dude, and he ran a bunch of bad boys,” Biden said in one recollection, adding one day he called out to Corn Pop to demand he get off of the diving board; jokingly comparing him to competitive swimmer Esther Williams.

Biden claimed Corn Pop promised to “meet [him] outside,” and when the then-future president left the pool, the situation deescalated after he apologized for comparing Corn Pop to Williams.

On “Hannity,” Jarrett added declassification is an “exclusive power” of the commander-in-chief, saying that both Biden and Hillary Clinton – who also was embroiled in a classified documents scandal – lack the same authority as Trump or other presidents in that regard.

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The documents pertaining to Biden hail from his vice presidency, not his presidency.

“Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted. The evidence was overwhelming,” he said, adding that if former CENTCOM Commander Gen. David Petraeus and Bill Clinton administration official Sandy Berger were prosecuted for mishandling classified information, the law should be applied evenly in all relevant cases.

Dems 'want answers' on Biden documents, Rep. Porter says: 'Classified documents belong in classified settings'

Democrats want answers from the White House regarding stashes of classified documents improperly held by President Biden since the Obama administration, Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California said.

Porter, speaking with reporters after a town hall event Tuesday, was asked about her role in the House Oversight Committee and the ongoing investigation into Biden’s illicit storage of classified documents at his private residence, inside his garage, and in the office of his think tank.

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“So I definitely think that we want to get answers from the White House,” Porter said. 

Porter, however, wouldn’t say if she will sign on to a request from Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer for records related to the classified documents.

“I don’t know if that document request – I have not reviewed the line by line of the request that Chairman [James] Comer made – but I definitely think we want answers. Classified documents belong in classified settings, and I think you heard me say oversight is not a partisan thing. Good oversight means you’re willing to hold any rule breaker to account.”

Comer, a Kentucky Republican, sent a letter Sunday to White House chief of staff Ron Klain requesting more documents and communications related to the discoveries of multiple Obama-era classified documents in several locations at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C. 

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Porter went on to say there has been “much broader abuse of classified information” by former President Donald Trump.

“I don’t have all the facts about President Biden’s classified information,” Porter continued. “We don’t have all the facts, sadly, because of obstruction yet about President Trump’s much broader abuse of classified information. But we should be asking for answers in a respectful way, and we should be expecting to get honest ones.”

BIDEN IGNORES REPORTERS’ QUESTIONS ABOUT CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS FOR 2ND TIME AS STAFF ESCORTS MEDIA OUT

Biden again ignored reporters’ questions on Tuesday as they tried to get him to address the classified documents from his time as vice president that were recently found at his Delaware home and the Penn Biden Center.

Biden had a meeting with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and after the two leaders delivered brief remarks, reporters began hurling questions at the president. They were all met with silence.

The same thing happened three times last week. First, Biden refused to answer questions about the documents on Monday, Jan. 9. 

Then the following day, Jan. 10, the president did not acknowledge questions after his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.

Pence says he didn't take classified material, calls for 'unprecedented transparency' after Mar-a-Lago raid

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that he did not take any classified information or materials with him after he left office in January 2021.

The comment comes as FBI officials found classified and “top secret” information among boxes of documents during a raid at former President Donald Trump’s private Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago last week. The raid was part of a larger investigation into whether Trump mishandled classified information or potentially violated the Espionage Act.

During an interview with the Associated Press, Pence was specifically asked if he retained any such documents or information.

“No, not to my knowledge,” Pence answered.

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The former president, who some believe could be pursuing the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024, said he would not rush to judge Trump over the FBI’s findings, however.

“I honestly don’t want to prejudge it before until we know all the facts,” Pence said about the raid. He also called for transparency by the Justice Department for the “unprecedented action.”

“The concern that millions of Americans felt is only going to be resolved with daylight,” he continued. “I know that’s not customary in an investigation. But this is unprecedented action by the Justice Department, and I think it merits an unprecedented transparency.”

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The former vice president also addressed Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney’s primary loss to Trump-endorsed challenger Harriet Hageman. Cheney is a vocal critic of Trump and is one of the Republicans on the House Committee Investigating the Capitol Riots on January 6th.

“The people of Wyoming have spoken,” Pence answered, walking his typical fine line of addressing the issue without speaking ill of his former boss or offending Republicans who supported her. “And, you know, I accept their judgment about the kind of representation they want on Capitol Hill.”

“And I appreciate the conservative stance Congresswoman Cheney has taken over the years,” he added. “But I’ve been disappointed in the partisan taint of the Jan. 6 committee from early on.”

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The committee has repeatedly called forth former Trump administration officials to testify on the events on Jan. 6, 2021, to determine if Trump played a role in advocating for an invasion of the Capitol building that resulted in several deaths.

Committee members have also sought Pence’s testimony before they wrap up their investigative report next month.

“Beyond my concerns about the partisan nature of the Jan. 6 committee, there are profound constitutional issues that have to be considered,” he said. “No vice president has ever been summoned to testify before the Congress of the United States.”

The interview came as Pence spent two days in Iowa, a state usually visited by potential presidential candidates as its caucus kicks off primary elections. Winners of the Iowa Caucus typically use that early momentum to bolster fundraising and gain polling leads that will help them in other state primaries. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.