The whataboutism virus is spreading absurdly fast. Trump supporters are quick to cry foul, claiming the he’s being unfairly targeted by the liberal elite and a partisan Department of Justice. A quick recap of Biden, Clinton, and Trump’s secret files cases is in order.

The Trump Files

Files in question: more than 325 classified files, including Secret and Top Secret designations, were discovered over the course of last year at Mar-a-Lago. This included defense intelligence, nuclear secrets, US vulnerabilities to attack, and intelligence on foreign leaders. The files were found in a storage room, ballrooms, and next to an impossibly short toilet in a bathroom.

Actions:

  • When the National Archives initiated contact to retrieve missing records, Trump’s team turned some of them over, but the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago revealed more than 100 additional documents.
  • Trump concealed some documents
  • Trump made false and obstruictive statements to the authorities during the investigation
  • Trump is alleged to have revealed some of these documents to people without security clearance
  • Trump is alleged to be heard stating he knew the documents were classified and he acknowledged that he shouldn’t have them

In other words, Trump knew he had restricted files, possibly used them or planned to use them for financial or political leverage, and actively covered up his possession of the documents, which led to the “willful retention” charges brought against him.

The Biden Files

Files in question: sensitive compartmented information, which involve intelligence-gathering methods and sources. Files reportedly include information about Ukraine, Iran, and the UK from his time as vice-president and senator.

Actions:

  • Biden aides discovered that he had classified documents in a Washington office that he was moving out of.
  • The following day, they turned the files over to the National Archives. The FBI conducted their own search and found more at Biden’s Delaware home.
  • Biden said he was surprised there were sensitive documents and that he is co-operating fully with the review.
  • Robert Hur, a A Trump-appointed prosecutor, is looking into this ongoing case.

In other words, Biden wasn’t aware that he had restricted files, the files weren’t as sensitive as the Trump files, he voluntarily reported the files in question, and is cooperating with the investigation.

The Clinton Files

Files in question: as Secretary of State, Clinton operated a private e-mail server and used a personal email address, exposing classified material on her home server, which was unsecured. The FBI said there were 113 emails that contained classified information, but they didn’t reveal the nature of them.

Actions:

  • The Clinton team handed over nearly 60,000 pages of emails but also deleted more than 30,000 emails they said were deemed to be personal in nature.
  • Trump accused Clinton of destroying evidence, and even urged Russia to find them. Trump literally asked Russian hackers to uncover these classified documents.
  • Clinton said she fully complied with the investigation and handed over all work-related emails.

The FBI described Clinton’s actions as careless but said there was no case for a “reasonable prosecutor” to bring. Most of what people remember of this is that James Comey reopened the e-mail case weeks before the 2016 election, released a letter announcing the investigation 11 days before the election (a clear violation of FBI rules), which led to a shift in public opinion away from Clinton in some key battleground states, and ultimately resulted in the Trump electoral win, even though he still lost the popular vote — his first of two times. The GOP applauded Comey’s letter at the time, accepting the last-minute bump to push Trump over the top. Those same folks are crying foul today and are resolving to de-fund the FBI for having the audacity to investigate actual crimes.

Meanwhile, Trump had been under investigation for over six months because his campaign staff and family members had dozens of contacts with foreign spies. You know, the whole “Russian hoax” thing.

A lot of the details have been lost and “What about her e-mails?” is still a popular refrain, but you can refresh your memory with the investigation details.

Conclusion

INTENT MATTERS. There’s a big difference between negligence and maliciousness, cooperation and deceit.

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

Carl Sagan

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash