Here are the Democrats who support investigating Biden’s classified documents
Cami Mondeaux
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Some Democrats are distancing themselves from President Joe Biden as he faces a number of investigations into the classified documents that were found at his private office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement and his personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware.
Although several Democrats, and at least one Republican, have acknowledged distinctions between Biden and former President Donald Trump’s similar circumstances last year, a handful of party members have criticized the president’s handling of the situation as “embarrassing.”
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Here’s a breakdown of which Democrats have criticized Biden and support an investigation into the matter:
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) criticized Biden’s handling of classified documents over the weekend, particularly when compared with the president’s comments about materials that were found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home last year.
“Well, it’s certainly embarrassing,” Stabenow told NBC News on Sunday.
However, Stabenow emphasized the differences between Biden’s and Trump’s circumstances, noting that the current White House is cooperating with investigations into the “small number” of documents.
“They don’t think it’s the right thing, and they’ve been moving to correct it, working with the Department of Justice, working with everyone involved, with the Archives. So, from my perspective, it’s one of those moments that, obviously, they wish hadn’t happened,” Stabenow said.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) responded to say she was “glad” about the appointment of a special counsel, noting the investigation should be taken seriously.
“Anytime there is a deviance in regards to security protocols, that should be taken serious, it should be investigated,” Omar told Fox News. “So you have to understand, right? Republicans are not really interested in upholding the law and following security protocols. What they’re interested in is playing political games and now only wanting to investigate Biden.”
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA)
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) weighed in on the DOJ’s decision to appoint a special counsel, emphasizing that the discovery of the classified documents must be “taken seriously” and that “no one is above the law.”
“Classified documents are to be taken seriously, and they are to be handled with a great deal of care, and no one is above the law,” Warnock told ABC News on Sunday. “So I’m glad to see the Justice Department doing its work, and we ought to let that work proceed.”
Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA)
Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) echoed Stabenow’s comments, calling the discovery of classified documents in multiple locations an “embarrassment.”
The California Democrat praised the Justice Department’s appointment of a special counsel to investigate the matter, noting that the investigation will help shed light on the situation.
“The documents and the whole issue is before the special counsel, and the investigations will go forward with regard to these classified documents that were found,” Garamendi told Fox News. “I don’t need to imagine, I know exactly what President Biden said when he was informed that these documents were found in his office in Washington, and that was an ‘Oh,’ followed by a four-letter expletive.”
“And it’s an embarrassment, no doubt about it,” he continued. “Is there more to it? I doubt it, but we’ll find out from the special counsel as he goes about his business.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) also praised the DOJ’s decision to appoint a special counsel, noting an investigation is necessary to determine whether Biden’s handling of the documents put national security at risk.
“I don’t think we can exclude the possibility without knowing more of the facts. We have asked for an assessment in the intelligence community of the Mar-a-Lago documents. I think we ought to get that same assessment of the documents found in the think tank, as well as the home of President Biden,” Schiff said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday. “I’d like to know what these documents were. I’d like to know what the IC’s assessment is, whether there was any risk of exposure and what the harm would be and whether any mitigation needs to be done.”
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However, Schiff also sought to draw a contrast between Biden and Trump, emphasizing the latter’s lack of cooperation with law enforcement that led to the eventual raid of his Mar-a-Lago home.
“The Biden approach was very different in the sense that it looks that it was inadvertent that these documents were at these locations,” Schiff said. “There was no effort to hold on to them, no effort to conceal them, no effort to obstruct the Justice Department’s investigation.”