I am so confused. Maybe you are, too?
Former President of the United States Donald Trump (R) is in very hot water over his handling of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A full FBI criminal investigation is underway.
That dirty guy.
But wait. I hear that current President Joe Biden (D) is under scrutiny for Obama-era classified documents being found in a couple locations connected to him. Some of the documents were “found in my locked garage right next to my Corvette,” in Mr. Biden’s own words. Snicker.
But that’s OK.
Because, why? Well, clearly, they were locked up in that garage where Mr. Biden had the only key to that padlock and no self-respecting Russian secret agent would dare pick that lock and get in. Or, maybe they would be too bedazzled by Biden’s Vette to bother with those top-secret government missives?
I’m sure Biden’s housekeeper didn’t have a key to that garage where the Comet, Fantastic, extra rolls of toilet paper, and Bounty paper towels are kept.
I wonder if the rats and mice that were getting into those boxes had a top-secret clearance? Someone should call Disney and see if Mickey Mouse could help them get the appropriate clearances for these cute little gnawing miscreants.
But, Disney CEO Bob Iger is probably too busy cleaning up the “woke mess” with the state of Florida to be of any use.
Why is it OK when a Democratic president violates the law regarding record retention and storage but a Republican president who does the exact same thing is a horrible villain?
Answer: There is no difference other than politics.
The Democrats are in such a lather to attack Mr. Trump that they inadvertently fell into a trap of their own making. By making extreme and unwarranted statements on the “illegality” of Trump’s transgressions, they must impute the same misdeeds to Mr. Biden.
Otherwise, they are exposed for what they truly are: nothing more than political backstabbing hypocrites who seek power and gain by whatever means possible. Even if it hurts our country and distracts us from the real problems plaguing us.
C’mon, it’s paperwork. Yes, there is a “Presidential Records Act” that appears to have been violated by BOTH presidents. But, boxes and boxes of files that wound up being carted around and stored don’t appear to be much of a threat. Have we heard stories of foreign operatives breaking into garages and stealing boxes of papers? No, we have not.
It would seem that foreign intelligence organizations are much more concerned with gaining current intelligence on government activities as opposed to years-old information that may or may not be accurate. There simply is not enough time to sift through thousands of “top-secret” pages to find one or two nuggets that may be valuable.
What about the concern that CIA operatives may be revealed in this paperwork? I don’t believe there has been a documented case of this. Heck, I’ll bet Langley has only a couple people who know the real identities of our agents and this information would not be included in a paper sitting on some elected official’s desk. Or a secretary. Or assistant.
This is just a scare tactic. But, I have heard it attached to Mr. Trump but not to Mr. Biden. Again, I’m confused.
I know where I work, we generate tons of paper. Costs, vendors, agreements, purchase orders, receipts, personnel paperwork, formulas, recipes, pay stubs, test data — all of which are “secret” or at least confidential. We have a records retention policy but, like all businesses, it is not followed exactly and we squirrel away boxes of documents that may be important in the future.
Admit it. You do the same. Why do we think these elected officials would be any different?
Folks, we need to be very careful here. Attempting to find criminality on elected officials after they leave office is a terrible thought. At first glance, it seems like a great idea. We should hold officials to a higher standard. But there is a dark side.
What would happen if a politician knew he would be prosecuted after leaving office but was protected while still in office? Wouldn’t that politician seek to stay in office?
In ancient Rome, there was a tribune/consul named Julius Caesar. While in office, Caesar knew that he was safe from the huge line of people who were going to come after him after he left office. So, he decided to become a dictator (or emperor) and never leave. We cannot allow that to happen here.
This insanity in prosecuting our leaders over boxes of papers must stop. Just return the papers to the National Archives and be done with it. Republicans and Democrats must stop playing these ludicrous games and get on with the people’s business.
Steve Lunetta is a resident of Santa Clarita and has one thing to say: et tu Brute? He can be reached at
[email protected].
