The Justice Department sought release of audio recordings from the classified documents investigation involving Joe Biden, arguing the prior administration tried to hide recordings showing a significant decline in Biden’s mental state. Biden sued to stop release of interviews conducted by Special Counsel Robert Hur, who declined to charge him but triggered political controversy after describing Biden as an elderly man with a poor memory. Dan Abrams said the legal rationale for releasing Biden recordings contradicts the rationale Trump allies used to block portions of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report. Abrams pointed to parallel appointments of Hur and Smith by Merrick Garland and to Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision blocking release of Volume 2 of Smith’s report after ruling Smith was improperly appointed. Cannon emphasized the presumption of innocence for Trump and co-defendants.
"Abrams accused President Donald Trump’s Justice Department of enormous hypocrisy in pushing to release audio recordings from former President Joe Biden’s classified documents investigation while having shielded records tied to Trump. Speaking on The Dan Abrams Show on SiriusXM, the Mediaite founder and legal analyst argued the administration's position on the Biden recordings directly contradicts the legal rationale Trump allies used to block the release of portions of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report."
"The clash comes after Biden sued the federal government in an effort to stop the release of interviews conducted by Special Counsel Robert Hur during the classified documents probe tied to Biden's memoir materials. Hur ultimately declined to charge Biden but ignited a political firestorm in 2024 after describing the former president as an elderly man with a poor memory. Trump's Justice Department has since argued the recordings should be released, claiming the prior administration attempted to hide audio recordings that clearly demonstrate a significant decline in Biden's mental state."
"Abrams said the legal logic underpinning that effort falls apart when compared with the administration's earlier defense of Trump. There is a legal and practical argument that the Biden team can't make which is by far the strongest argument that Biden could have, Abrams said before pointing to the parallel appointments of Hur and Smith by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland. Abrams noted that Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the release of Volume 2 of Smith's report, covering Trump's handling of classified documents, after ruling Smith had been improperly appointed."
"He quoted Cannon's ruling that Trump and his co-defendants still enjoy the presumption of innocence held sacrosanct in our constitutional order. So wait, he said. Jack Smith writing a report, he's not charging [Trump] at this point, it's a report that Jack Smith wrote about Donald Trump and the classified information."
#justice-department #classified-documents-investigations #audio-recordings #special-counsel-reports #presumption-of-innocence
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