DOJ makes right call on Biden documents

Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced the appointment of a special counsel, Robert K. Hur, to look into “the possibly unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or other records discovered” from President Joe Biden’s eight-year tenure as vice president in the Obama administration.

Good.

That’s how government oversight is supposed to work. Administrations and presidents are not perfect. Both this incident and the mess at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home are troublesome breaches of national security protocol.

The Biden administration has said that on Nov. 2, a small number of documents had been found in an office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, and were retrieved by National Archives staffers the following day. Thursday, the White House said a second small set of documents was found in a storage area in Biden’s garage and reported to the Justice Department on Dec. 20, with an additional document discovered Thursday.

The fact that Biden’s improperly stored documents were discovered and reported by the administration, and in no case did they seem to be numerous or highly sensitive, is reassuring. But in a badly divided nation, it has become more important than ever that our leaders avoid even the appearance of impropriety, and that our Justice Department avoid any hint of favoritism. An independent investigation is the appropriate next step.

But that does not mean Biden’s treatment of documents is in any way analogous to Trump’s. In that case, the National Archives realized in the spring of 2021 that documents of historical importance were missing and asked Trump to return them. After eight months of haggling, 15 cartons of files, including several hundred documents marked “classified,” were returned; more were discovered after Trump was served with a subpoena. A Trump employee said in June the subpoena had been complied with, but a search of Mar-a-Lago turned up yet more classified documents. A grand jury is investigating whether any obstruction of justice occurred.

The investigation of Trump’s handling of those documents is not merely appropriate. It’s crucial — to recover the documents, get to the bottom of their mishandling, and set clear standards for the future. Neither current nor former presidents own the nation’s files. Is there a better way to keep track of and store these documents? Is there an over-classification of documents?

The special counsel investigating Biden is necessary to maintain faith in government now. However, the investigation of Biden’s handling of the documents promised by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy seems like overkill.

Perhaps the worst part of all this blundering by both presidents, whether it be careless or nefarious, is that for another day, or week, or month, or year, our leaders will spend time and energy on files and storage spaces and accusations while the nation’s real challenges continue to mount.