Messing with (Secret) Government Documents: Similarities and Differences Between Joe Biden’s Case and Donald Trump’s

With Trump, the risk of litigation is high. The former president and his entourage are suspected of deliberately obstructing the FBI’s investigation. While the investigation is still ongoing, we should be cautious, as there are indications that Trump may have moved the documents so that the National Archives or the FBI could not find them.

In June of last year, the FBI emailed Trump that the storage facility at Mar-a-Lago was not considered a safe place. According to the FBI, the FBI informed Trump that the documents were “improperly handled and improperly stored.” This may influence the decision of whether or not to prosecute.

American professor Barb McQuade (Michigan Law School), herself a former prosecutor, points out the differences between the two cases when it comes to prosecution. “The Justice Department will prosecute if there are aggravating circumstances such as obstruction of justice, incriminating documents, willful violation of law, and treason against the United States,” he wrote on Twitter.

In Trump’s case, all of those worst-case scenarios appear to be present, except for treason, McQuade argues. In Biden’s case, on the other hand, he argues, there are no signs of such aggravating circumstances. But he calls the appointment of a special prosecutor in the Biden case “brilliant” anyway.