After Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) scorched President Joe Biden on Sunday for having classified documents in his former office and home, CNN’s Jake Tapper surprised him with a video of him shrugging off a similar situation – only worse – involving Donald Trump.
A blasé Comer, now chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, appeared indifferent to Trump’s secret documents in an interview on CNN in November. He said the investigation into the case “will not be a priority.”
“Do you only care about falsified documents when Democrats do something wrong?” Tapper pressed Comer on “State of the Union.”
“Absolutely not,” snapped Comer.
But Comer complained about what he saw as a “two-tier system of justice.” with Biden’s home not being searched by FBI agents, like Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, where investigators found hundreds of classified documents.
“The hypocrisy here is great,” Comer said.
However, Tapper indicated that Biden’s lawyers alerted officials when the documents were discovered and turned over. Trump, on the other hand, is stuck, not fully complying with the subpoena to search for classified documents, and “false lawyers told the investigators they turned everything in,” Tapper added.
And “there are about 20 [classified documents] in Biden’s case. As for Trump, there are more than 300 classified documents at Mar-a-Lago — the big difference here is just the facts,” Tapper said.
Viewers “don’t understand why President Biden’s documents appear to be a top priority for you,” while Trump’s is not, Tapper said.
Comer has written to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain seeking more information about the documents, including visitor logs to Biden’s home.
“We have a lot of questions,” Comer said Sunday, referring to Biden’s home on CNN as a “crime scene.” Comer noted in the letter that he was “disturbed” that “classified documents were improperly stored” at Biden’s home.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said later in the “State of the Union” that proper handling of all classified documents is vitally important to American safety.
But “it bothers me that people who say they have no problem with what Donald Trump is doing – that is to refuse any cooperation in turning over hundreds of classified documents – are angry about the voluntary and quick turnover of some of the documents President Biden found,” Raskin said.
Two special counsels have been appointed to investigate each case.