INFO Professor Jason R. Baron comments on Biden records case
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In a recent article in CBS News, INFO Professor Jason R. Baron commented on special counsel Robert Hur’s recommendation not to charge President Biden for retention of classified documents after he left the vice presidency. Former President Trump has been charged with 40 federal counts for retention of classified material and obstruction of justice in connection to hundreds of files found in Trump’s home in Mar-A-Lago, while President Biden retained several notebooks and a small number of files containing classified material from his time as vice president. In order to clarify the difference between the two cases, Baron, former director of litigation at the National Archives, explained the difference between official records and personal records.
“It is easy to understand that [Mr. Biden] believed that this material was personal in nature and that he had a right to take it home, and that is very much in contrast with former President Trump having hundreds of official documents with top secret and other classification markings on them in his residence,” Baron said. “Those are very different, and in former President Trump’s case, there is no good explanation for why he believed that those presidential records were his.”
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The original article, written by Melissa Quinn and Robert Legare, was published by CBS News February 9, 2024.