Special counsel: Trump’s ‘deception’ on classified docs distinguishes him from Biden, Clinton and Pence
The new filing from Jack Smith responded to Trump’s contention that he has been unfairly singled out for prosecution.
Donald Trump’s efforts to thwart a federal investigation into his hoarding of national security secrets set him apart from other political figures who’ve faced allegations of mishandling classified information, including President Joe Biden, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Mike Pence and James Comey, special counsel Jack Smith said in a court filing Thursday.
Rather than serve as evidence that Trump is being singled out by politically motivated prosecutors, Smith contends that the long list of figures — most of whom never faced any charges — underscores the egregiousness of Trump’s conduct, which was “aggravated” by his months-long refusal to return the documents.
“While each of them, to varying degrees, bears a slight resemblance to this case … none is alleged to have willfully retained a vast trove of highly sensitive, confidential materials and repeatedly sought to thwart their lawful return and engaged in a multi-faceted scheme of deception and obstruction,” prosecutors argued in a 29-page brief. “There is no one who is similarly situated.”
Smith painted Trump as a notorious exception to the rule in an effort to rebut arguments from the former president’s lawyers that he’s being unfairly singled out for prosecution in the pending criminal case in Florida that threatens to disrupt Trump’s bid to return to the White House.
Judge Aileen Cannon is currently mulling whether to start a trial of the former president this summer on charges of willful retention of national security information, obstruction of justice and scheming to mislead investigators, or whether to put any trial off until after the November election.
Also pending before Cannon are a series of motions from Trump asking the judge to throw out the case altogether. Smith’s brief was one of several filings Thursday in which the special counsel responded to those motions.
The other prominent officials who’ve landed in hot water in connection with classified records, the special counsel argued, often cooperated with investigators and invited FBI scrutiny.
Smith conceded that Biden’s handling of classified materials has “superficial similarities” to Trump’s actions. Both men stored classified documents in cardboard boxes at their personal residence. And both allegedly shared classified materials with ghostwriters. But Trump stashed his documents at his “social club” accessed by hundreds of patrons, the prosecutor wrote, and then engaged in a campaign of “deception” to prevent investigators from recovering them.
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Special counsel: Trump’s ‘deception’ on classified docs distinguishes him from Biden, Clinton and Pence https://t.co/B4hEUwtPDJ
— POLITICO (@politico) March 7, 2024
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