WASHINGTON: Donald Trump cited U.S. President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents after leaving the vice presidency as he seeks to have criminal charges related to his own retention of sensitive records tossed out, court filings showed on Thursday.
Trump, argued that the decision not to charge Biden and other senior U.S. officials who mishandled classified information shows he is being selectively targeted by prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case and who was nominated by Trump, will rule on Trump’s challenge. Cannon, who has been receptive to some of Trump’s defense arguments, has questioned prosecutors at prior court hearings about why former presidents and vice presidents found to be in possession of potentially classified documents were not charged.
Trump faces a high legal bar in showing that he was selectively targeted and such challenges are rarely successful, but the argument aligns with Trump’s campaign message that he is a victim of political persecution.
“American history is chock full of public examples involving alleged mishandling of classified information and documents, which did not result in the type of politically motivated charges that the Special Counsel’s Office has brought against President Trump and his codefendants,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a court filing.
Robert Hur, the special counsel who investigated classified documents found at Biden’s home and former offices, noted Biden’s cooperation with his probe and cited “material distinctions” with Trump’s case in a report published in February. Hur declined to bring criminal charges against Biden, but found some evidence that Biden willfully held onto sensitive material after he left the vice presidency in 2017.