In a new op-ed, CNN's legal analyst Elie Honig argued that “Joe Biden knew he had highly classified documents in his home, kept them for a reason, and held on to them for years.”
“He arguably broke the law, and he definitely misled the American public,” he added, saying that Biden's storing of classified documents had nothing to do with being a "feeble old man," as Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report suggested.
"For anyone howling about Hur’s report, let’s recognize, first, that he had to write it. Federal regulations require that, at the end of the investigation, the special counsel must create a report 'explaining the prosecution or declination decisions.' Now, one could fairly take issue with how Hur wrote the report," Honig wrote.
"We don’t want prosecutors flaming people they don’t indict, after all, and Hur drafted a 300-plus page tome that included damaging revelations (at times with excessive flourishes) about Biden and others around him. I’ll allow that objection on one condition: You also must be on record condemning another special counsel, Robert Mueller, who wrote a 400-plus page report excoriating Donald Trump without recommending indictment. It’s entirely fair to argue that prosecutors should either charge or stay as mum as possible, or that the special counsel rules are a mess — but it has to work both ways."
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Honig reiterated that Hur may have been extensive when describing Biden's mental acuity, but added, "It’s a relevant factor that weighs considerably in Hur’s assessment of the case’s shortcomings" in regards to establishing Biden's criminal intent."
He added that there were documents found at Biden's residence that he did not know about, but "he absolutely did know about others."
Honig goes on to point out that Donald Trump's conduct when it comes to retaining classified documents was much worse than Biden's — a fact that Hur "takes pains to say — perhaps gratuitously" in his report. "But Biden’s conduct is indefensible nonetheless," Honig contends.
"Here’s the report’s biggest revelation: Biden held on to classified top-secret national-security documents after he left the vice-presidency, and he did it intentionally. This was no accident," Honig writes.
"Biden had those documents for this specific reason: He believed he had been right on American policy in Afghanistan (and that President Barack Obama had been wrong), and he wanted to paint himself as the visionary hero (and Obama as the heel) in the historical narrative. That’s why Biden shared some of their contents with his ghostwriter — though Hur acknowledges that Biden may have disclosed that classified information inadvertently, citing Biden’s 'lapses in attention and vigilance.'"
Despite White House claims that Biden's possession of classified documents was just a matter of them being inadvertently misplaced, Honig says Biden's actions in regards to some of the documents were "knowingly and on purpose."
"Now that Biden has been caught dissembling to the public, he has tried to pivot to the better news. In an official statement issued just after Hur’s report became public, the president proclaimed that he 'cooperated completely, threw up no roadblocks, and sought no delays.' I’ll give him 'cooperated' — but not 'completely,' not anymore."
Read the full op-ed over at New York Magazine.
