President Joe Biden’s support among Democrats is eroding after the Justice Department discovered more classified documents at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
Democrats’ exasperation with Biden’s response to the controversy coincides with expectations he will announce his 2024 reelection campaign after he delivers his State of the Union address next month.
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Democrats, some of whom brought popcorn to the House Republican speakership election, are now having to answer questions about their own leadership. Although most distinguish Biden and former President Donald Trump‘s classified document controversies, an increasing number of White House allies are criticizing the administration’s management of the scandal.
“The drip, drip, drip of new documents is problematic for Biden and is becoming slightly more than an annoyance for Democrats,” attorney and former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) aide Christopher Hahn told the Washington Examiner. “It’s hard to explain to the public that Biden and Trump should be viewed differently. In politics, if you’re explaining, you’re losing, and it’s clear congressional Democrats have opted not to explain.”
The Aggressive Progressive podcast host added, “While this isn’t an electoral issue at the moment, should this continue into the spring, it could well be.”
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, admitted Biden had “well, of course” ceded the political high ground regarding classified documents after the Justice Department uncovered another batch of records in Wilmington last Friday following an almost 13-hour search of “all working, living and storage spaces” of his residence, including from when he was a senator.
“Let’s be honest about it,” Durbin told CNN. “When that information is found, it diminishes the stature of any person who is in possession of it, because it’s not supposed to happen. Whether it was the fault of a staffer or attorney, it makes no difference. The elected official bears ultimate responsibility.”
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who is up for reelection next year, expressed disbelief concerning Biden’s and Trump’s investigations based on his own experiences with classified documents.
“When I go into the SCIF with the secure documents, they always ask, ‘Are you clean?’ when you walk out,” Manchin told NBC. “They want to make sure you’re not carrying anything out. … To put those in unsecured spaces is irresponsible.”
“I think he should have a lot of regrets,” he added of Biden.
The week before, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) endorsed an intelligence risk assessment related to Biden’s classified documents controversy, similar to the one he sought for Trump’s materials, during an interview with ABC amid speculation he is poised to launch a Senate bid in California. But retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) was less restrained. “Well, it’s certainly embarrassing,” she told NBC.
Many Democratic strategists decline to discuss Biden’s classified documents controversy, a tacit acknowledgment of its political consequences before next year’s elections and its neutralization of their scrutiny of Trump.
But unlike Durbin, former Democratic operative Sandy Maisel underscored how government transitions are “a time of chaos” and that the principal does not “do the packing” him or herself. Simultaneously, Biden’s problems have been exacerbated by his lack of transparency, according to the Colby College visiting politics instructor and onetime candidate.
“Biden should also have gone to the public, said we screwed up when I left office, and we are now turning everything over and asking that everywhere be searched for anything else,” he said. “The drip, drip, drip is exacting a political cost. … I think the long-term damage is yet to be seen, and it won’t be until this all plays out.”
White House Counsel’s Office spokesman Ian Sams defended Biden from Durbin and Manchin on Monday, contending his colleagues in legislative affairs were “constantly in touch” with Capitol Hill.
“Sen. Durbin, for example, in his interview [Sunday], emphasized again that this president was handling this responsibly, that he was properly and appropriately cooperating with the Justice Department,” Sams said. “But at the same time, there’s a lot of other priorities that he’s focused on. He’s focused on implementing the legislation that he passed last year. … These are the kinds of things that he’s ensuring that he’s communicating with the American public about.”
Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer shared a statement last weekend, which was reiterated in part by the White House Counsel’s Office. Bauer, whose wife, Anita Dunn, is a senior adviser to the president, conveyed to reporters the Justice Department’s request that its Wilmington search not be made public in advance “in accordance with its standard procedures, and we agreed to cooperate.”
The Justice Department had “full access” to Biden’s Wilmington home, in addition to “personally handwritten notes, files, papers, binders, memorabilia, to-do lists, schedules, and reminders going back decades,” according to Bauer.
“DOJ took possession of materials it deemed within the scope of its inquiry, including six items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding materials, some of which were from the president’s service in the Senate and some of which were from his tenure as vice president,” he wrote. “DOJ also took for further review personally handwritten notes from the vice presidential years.”
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Polls indicate unsettled opinion with respect to Biden’s classified documents controversy. One of the first national surveys conducted after Biden’s initial disclosure found his approval rating was at 40%, close to the lowest of his presidency. Another poll fielded before the latest developments found more than 60% of the public believe both Biden and Trump have mishandled classified information, though respondents were more likely to consider Trump’s actions improper compared to Biden, 77% to 64%.
