House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner said Sunday that reports that special counsel Robert Hur will not charge President Biden for possessing classified documents as a private citizen would be “devastating” for the national security community.
“This will certainly [continue] to be devastating for the Department of Justice into the Biden administration with their two-tier system of justice,” the Ohio Republican said on the CBS Sunday talk show “Face the Nation.” “Biden has been found to be a serial classified-document hoarder.”
Former President Donald Trump has been charged with violating the Espionage Act for his refusal to return all classified documents after leaving office and storing them at his Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida.
Mr. Biden was found to be in possession of classified materials from his time as a senator and vice president but has cooperated with authorities.
Mr. Turner accused the Justice Department of deliberately not pursuing charges against Democrats.
“You can’t hoard documents in your home for a decade-long period, concealing them, taking them home as a senator, a vice president, and then suddenly say, ‘hey, two weeks while I was president, I cooperated and therefore it doesn’t count that I spent 10 years as a serial classified-documents hoarder,’” Mr. Turner said.
Mr. Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social last week to bash the news.
“Wow! Fake news CNN, through a leak for the Department of Injustice, has just reported that no charges will be filed in the (much bigger than mine!!!) Crooked Joe Biden documents case,” he posted.
“We are living in a very corrupt country!” he added.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, first reported that Mr. Biden is not likely to receive charges for his mishandling of sensitive materials. Mr. Hur will reportedly instead release a report within the coming months that is critical of Mr. Biden‘s and his aides’ actions.
Mr. Hur, a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, was tapped in January to lead the probe after classified documents were discovered in Mr. Biden‘s personal possession at his Penn Biden Center office in Washington and then later in his Delaware home.
The lack of charges is expected to intensify Republicans’ scrutiny of the DOJ as the House Judiciary Committee conducts its own investigation of Mr. Biden‘s actions.
The White House has not taken kindly to the parallel probe from lawmakers, accusing Republicans of being “focused on a baseless fishing expedition just to try to smear the president for political purposes.”
• Mallory Wilson contributed to this report.
