President Biden Cleared in Classified Documents Case

The special counsel investigating President Biden for his handling of classified documents, has released a report in which he concluded that “no criminal charges are warranted” against Mr. Biden. The report focused upon Mr. Biden’s handling of classified documents after leaving the vice presidency in early 2017. Although the report found evidence that Mr. Biden had willfully retained and disclosed some sensitive material, the 300-plus page report concluded that “the evidence does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt”. Some of the factors that were important in the decision not to charge President Biden with a crime, included Mr. Biden’s cooperation with investigators, in stark contrast to Mr. Trump’s behavior when classified documents were discovered at his Florida home. Another factor that weighed against charges was that “Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did in our interview with him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”. Finally special counsel cited in the report that Mr. Biden might not have fully adjusted to the newly imposed restrictions on retaining documents, based upon former President Reagan’s retention of similar documents for decades.