On Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said it will “hurt the country” if Attorney General Merrick Garland does not take swift action after multiple sets of classified documents were found in an office at the University of Pennsylvania, which had previously been used by President Biden.
Graham argued to Fox News that a special counsel should be appointed to investigate the matter with the same tenacity that Garland utilized to probe former President Donald Trump after classified material was found at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago.
Following the Fox News interview with Graham, aides for President Biden discovered additional documents from his time as vice president at another location.
Reacting to what he called a ridiculous response by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to Fox News’ Peter Doocy’s questions, Graham said many Americans have become “disgusted with the standard that exists in America when it comes to conservatives and everybody else.”
“So what I think if you believe a special counsel is necessary to assure the public about the handling of classified documents by Donald Trump, you should apply special counsel to the mishandling of classified documents by President Biden when he was vice president,” he said.
Graham argued that a failure to do so will damage the state of the republic and reinforce the narrative which suggests that it is acceptable when both Democrats and Republicans do something allegedly egregious but only Republicans are punished or investigated for it.
Graham referenced Clinton National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to knowingly removing classified information from the National Archives, receiving probation, a fine, and surrender of his security clearance, according to an announcement at the time from then-Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wray, who has since become FBI director.
The documents were tied to the Millennium Attacks terror plot, which was foiled after an Al-Qaeda-trained Algerian was detained while disembarking an international ferry in Port Angeles, Washington, in 1999 with explosives that were reportedly meant to be used at LAX on New Year’s Eve.
“General [David] Petraeus was prosecuted for turning over classified information [to a reporter]… He made a mistake, but he was actually prosecuted… Sandy Berger put classified information in his socks. So, yes, but here’s what I believe when it comes to presidents, the idea of prosecuting a president regarding this handling classified information is very problematic because they have the right to declassify,” Graham said.
“If there’s not a special counsel appointed to find out how this happened with President Biden regarding classified information, there is going to be a lot of angst — It will hurt the country,” he added.
Graham then issued a warning directly to Garland, saying, “Garland, If you’re listening, if you thought it was necessary, attorney general, to appoint a special counsel regarding President Trump, then you need to do the exact same thing regarding President Biden when it comes to handling classified information.”
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