Dick Durbin agrees Biden has lost ‘high ground’ in criticism over handling of classified documents

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Washington CNN—

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin agreed on Sunday that Joe Biden had lost the upper hand in the political back-and-forth over the storage of classified documents following the discovery of additional documents at the president’s home in Wilmington. , Delaware. But he dismissed any comparisons between Bidens’ situation and that of former President Donald Trump dealing with the classified documents.

Sure. Let’s be honest about it, Illinois Democrat Dana Bash told CNN on the State of the Union when asked if the president has lost the upper hand on this notion of classified information where it doesn’t. shouldn’t be.

When this information is found, it diminishes the stature of anyone who has it because it’s not supposed to happen, Durbin said. Whether it is the fault of an employee or an attorney, it makes no difference. The chosen one bears the ultimate responsibility.

But Durbin said Bidens’ situation was very different from uncovering classified information at the Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort.

Donald Trump defied those who knew the documents were in place and ultimately led, unwittingly, to a court order and search of his Mar-a-Lago resort to find out how many documents were there, said said the senator.

Compare that with Joe Biden. Embarrassed by the situation, as he should have been, he urged government agencies to carefully examine all the boxes he had accumulated. It’s a very different approach, Durbin added. It is outrageous that either happened. But the reaction of the former president and the current president could not be more mixed.

On Friday, FBI investigators found additional classified documents during a search of Bidens Wilmington’s home.

Bob Bauer, the president’s personal attorney, said in a statement that during the search, which took place nearly 1 p.m. Friday, the DOJ took possession of documents it believed were part of its investigation. , including six items consisting of documents with classification marks and surrounding materials, some of which were from the Presidents’ Service in the Senate and some of which were from his tenure as Vice President. The DOJ also took personal handwritten notes from the vice presidential years for closer scrutiny.

These six objects are in addition to materials previously found at the Bidens Wilmington residence and in his private office.

The federal search of Bidens’ home, while voluntary, marks an escalation in the investigation into the president’s handling of classified documents and will inevitably draw comparisons to his predecessor, even if the FBI search of Trump’s home was conducted. under different circumstances.

On Sunday, Durbin also warned against gambling with the national debt and said Biden should not negotiate with Republicans.

The United States reached the debt ceiling set by Congress on Thursday, forcing the Treasury Department to begin taking extraordinary measures to prevent the government from paying its bills and increasing pressure on Capitol Hill to avoid a catastrophic default.

The battle lines for high stakes combat have already been set. Hard-line Republicans, who wield enormous influence in the House due to the narrow majority of parties, have demanded that the lifting of the borrowing limit be tied to spending cuts.

The White House, however, countered that it would not offer any concessions or negotiate on raising the debt ceiling. And with the solution to the debt ceiling drama in the hands of lawmakers, fears are growing that the partisan tightrope strategy could lead the country to default on its debt for the first time or come dangerously close.

If we play with this, if we delay this, if we have short-term extensions of the national debt, we run the risk of the very recession of this economy, Durbin said.

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