Former President Donald Trump only kept folders marked ‘classified’ as a ‘cool keepsake’ from his time as president, he claimed Wednesday.
Trump made the claim on his Truth Social account, arguing that he ‘did nothing wrong,’ while accusing President Biden of wrongdoing for his own stashes of misplaced classified documents. Trump and Biden are both facing investigations into their mishandling of classified material, Trump for bringing it to Mar-a-Lago and Biden for keeping it in the garage of his Wilmington, Delaware home.
‘Remember, these were just ordinary, inexpensive folders with various words printed on them, but they were a ‘cool’ keepsake. Perhaps the Gestapo took some of these empty folders when they Raided Mar-a-Lago, & counted them as a document, which they are not,’ Trump wrote.
‘It’s also possible that the Trump Hating Marxist Thugs in charge will ‘plant’ documents while they’re in possession of the material. As President, and based on the Presidential Records Act & Socks Case, I did NOTHING WRONG. JOE DID!’ he added.
Republicans and Democrats have sought to differentiate between accusations against Biden and Trump. Trump’s allies argue the Justice Department and the National Archives were far more lenient on Biden than they were on Trump, while Biden’s allies argue the lenience is due to White House lawyers fully cooperating with authorities and returning the documents when found.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents last week, tapping former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur.
So far, Biden’s lawyers have discovered three batches of misplaced classified documents. They found the first in November, hidden away inside a closet at Washington office spaces belonging to the Penn Biden Center think tank. They discovered the second two batches inside the garage of Biden’s home in Wilmington.
The exact contents of the Biden documents remains unclear. The National Archives Records Administration (NARA) has stated it cannot share the information with Congress without approval from the DOJ.