Special counsel Jack Smith has a new source he says showcases the egregiousness of former President Donald Trump's concealment of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago: special counsel Robert Hur's report on President Joe Biden.
Hur's report, which concluded with no charges after investigating documents that were found at Biden's Delaware home and University of Pennsylvania office, attracted political attention for its attacks on Biden's age and memory. Less discussed was the fact that Hur, a Trump appointee, said Biden's conduct wasn't nearly as serious as the former president's.
Trump stands accused of breaking federal law by storing dozens of boxes of highly classified national defense information at his country club in South Florida, court records show.
In a new filing, Smith responds to moves by Trump and his co-defendants to collect evidence they believe will prove they've been the victims of a "selective prosecution."
Smith uses the Hur Report to counter their demands.
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"The defendants have not identified anyone who has engaged in a remotely similar suite of willful and deceitful criminal conduct and not been prosecuted," wrote Smith in his new filing. "For example, their primary competitor is Joseph R. Biden ... But as the Hur Report itself recognizes, 'several material distinctions between Mr. Trump's case and Mr. Biden's are clear.'"
Smith argues that while the Hur Report notes there was no clear evidence that Biden had highly classified documents, Trump "engaged in extensive and repeated efforts to obstruct justice and thwart the return of documents bearing classification markings."
Ultimately, said Smith, "the defendants' request for discovery on a selective prosecution theory can be denied on this basis alone."
Earlier this month, Donald Trump begged Special Counsel Jack Smith to drop "all litigation" against him in order to allow the nation to "heal."
The former president purportedly held onto classified documents despite a subpoena from the government to return them.
"If Special Counsel Jack Smith wants to do good for our Country, and help to unify it, he should drop all Litigation against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME, and let our Country HEAL," Trump posted on his own social media site, Truth Social.
He added, "This would be a far bigger and better achievement than anything he has ever done, and will be easy for the Great Patriots of our Country to understand in light of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s Document Report on Joe Biden, where the evidence is overwhelming that he 'willfully retained' important documents!"
