Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy warned the discovery of classified documents at President Biden’s private office could be "catastrophic" after the president harshly criticized former President Trump for a similar offense months earlier.
Biden addressed the matter for the first time Tuesday, saying he was "surprised" to learn they were at the Penn Biden Center. He said his personal attorneys immediately contacted the National Archives after finding the documents and that he is fully cooperating with the Justice Department
McCarthy, however, pointed out a glaring double standard in how authorities handled the situations with the current and former presidents.
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McCarthy conceded that the degree of Biden’s actions may not go as far as what is known about Trump’s case, but he said on "The Brian Kilmeade Show" Wednesday that they are, in principle, the same offense.
"Out of Biden's own mouth, when he was expressing how shocked he was at how irresponsible Trump was, he pointed out that if those documents fell into the wrong hands, they could compromise methods and sources of intelligence," McCarthy told host Brian Kilmeade. "And now the reporting we're getting is that the documents that Biden was unlawfully retaining were designated as [sensitive compartmented information]."
"So it’s exactly the same problem."
McCarthy then noted that Trump also self-reported the additional documents found in Mar-a-Lago last year, but government officials went to federal court to have him held in contempt for defying the grand jury subpoena.
"It seems to me that already the two cases are being handled in a very different manner," he said.
As far as the newly discovered documents, Biden claimed to be unaware of the contents and said his lawyers have suggested that he not ask.
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Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, called Biden’s claim "unintelligible."
"I can understand lawyers saying don't say anything because there's a potential criminal investigation," Turley said on "America's Newsroom" Wednesday. But with classified documents, Turley explained that authorities will need to determine if there was a security breach.
"For that, you need to know who saw the documents, and the chief witness is the president," Turley said. "His job is to protect national security first, not his legal status."
McCarthy added that if Biden doesn’t know the contents of the documents, then he can’t be questioned on much.
He then suggested that the president does, in fact, know the contents of the documents but is invoking his lawyers to avoid legal implications -- a tactic commonly used in Washington.
"When something goes wrong, as it reliably does, they say they either can't discuss it because the lawyers advise them not to, or they say, ‘I can't talk to the grand jury or the investigators because it's all attorney-client privilege,’" McCarthy explained.
"It’s a game and they get away with it, but they shouldn't."
