Jack Smith says Biden classified docs case is "starkly different" from Trump's
Published Date: 2/26/2024
Source: axios.com

Special counsel Jack Smith's team said Monday that former President Trump's classified documents case is unlike any other, including President Biden's.

Why it matters: Smith noted special counsel Robert Hur's report into Biden's handling of classified documents to argue that the president's case is not even "remotely" similar to Trump's.


  • The filing was in response to Trump's arguments that he has been selectively targeted by prosecutors overseeing the case.

Driving the news: "The defendants have not identified anyone who has engaged in a remotely similar suite of willful and deceitful criminal conduct and not been prosecuted," assistant special counsel David Harbach wrote in the filing.

  • "Nor could they."

Harbach added that Trump, "unlike Biden, is alleged to have engaged in extensive and repeated efforts to obstruct justice and thwart the return of documents bearing classification markings."

  • "And the evidence concerning the two men's intent — whether they knowingly possessed and willfully retained such documents — is also starkly different."

The big picture: Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 40 criminal counts in the case, which includes the willful retention of national defense information and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

State of play: Hur, in a sprawling report released earlier this month, did not recommend criminal charges over Biden's handling of classified documents, which were discovered in a private office and at Biden's garage at his home in Delaware.

Go deeper: Biden forms task force for handling of classified documents