Republicans furious after Biden avoids charges in classified documents case: ‘Two-tiered system of justice’

Published February 8, 2024 7:41pm ET



Congressional Republicans were quick to condemn the Justice Department for not prosecuting President Joe Biden for his mishandling of classified documents despite charging former President Donald Trump in the case against him.

In a joint statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) admonished special counsel Robert Hur’s decision to not prosecute Biden, saying it “exposes a two-tiered system of justice that is indicting one President with politically motivated charges while carrying water for another amid similar allegations.”

“The Special Counsel’s finding that President Biden ‘willfully retained and disclosed classified materials’ and engaged in practices that ‘present serious risks to national security’ is deeply disturbing,” the trio said in their statement.

Hur’s report found that Biden did mishandle classified documents but that his actions did not amount to criminal conduct. The report came after a yearlong investigation into how Biden had classified documents from his vice presidency and his time in the Senate at his think tank’s Washington, D.C., office and his Wilmington, Delaware, residence.

Meanwhile, Trump faces 40 counts in the Justice Department’s classified documents case against him, which special counsel Jack Smith said last May were related to “felony violations of our national security laws as well as participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice.”

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