Biden and Trump both have special counsels. But the president’s lawyers got to conduct his search, while his predecessor’s weren’t even allowed to be present.
The White House can’t be happy that its document scandal has landed President Biden a special-counsel investigation. At the same time, the Justice Department has handled the affair in a way that’s proved convenient for the president.
It’s convenient that the White House was able to keep quiet for nearly 70 days the revelation that Mr. Biden inappropriately retained classified information. The media reported almost immediately in 2022 that the National Archives had asked the Justice Department to examine Donald Trump’s handling of documents and later that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had opened a probe. These unsourced stories contained details only department personnel would know—despite a strict prohibition on discussing or disclosing investigations. In the Biden case, officials managed to keep their mouths shut for months.
By Kim Stossel
