I think it also raises questions about all Presidents and anyone with constant need of classified documents: they apparently can get lost in everyday paperwork and forgotten by whoever issues said documents to the recipient. How many documents does Bill Clinton still have? Bush 43? and Obama? Because leaving office with a few stragglers is apparently a thing.
It does appear that Trump is next level both in terms of number of documents, potential conflicts of interest, and the behavior surrounding the return to the National Archives.
I agree. I think the broader issue here is one of classification. Do we as a country classify too many documents -- and why? I think that's a separate discussion from what Trump did when he was asked to turn overt the docs, but a worthy conversation in its own right.
I wonder how someone like Bush 43 coming forward and publicly returning erroneously-kept classified documents would shift perspectives. Would it further destigmatize the whole issue and get everyone more "off the hook" or would it serve to further underline the differences in how it was handled by Biden (and in this example, Bush) vs. Trump?
I agree with your analysis but I do differ slightly with the analogy of leaving the store. Biden didn’t stop at the exit and realize he had items in his bag. He took the items home and “realized” they were in his bag SIX YEARS LATER!
At first I was on board with the differentiation that he voluntarily returned them when they were discovered but now that we’ve had two additional “discoveries” of more documents not originally turned over we are getting closer to Trump territory.
Now I’m beginning to see the value of this “so what” approach...thank you for the insights!
I think it also raises questions about all Presidents and anyone with constant need of classified documents: they apparently can get lost in everyday paperwork and forgotten by whoever issues said documents to the recipient. How many documents does Bill Clinton still have? Bush 43? and Obama? Because leaving office with a few stragglers is apparently a thing.
It does appear that Trump is next level both in terms of number of documents, potential conflicts of interest, and the behavior surrounding the return to the National Archives.
I agree. I think the broader issue here is one of classification. Do we as a country classify too many documents -- and why? I think that's a separate discussion from what Trump did when he was asked to turn overt the docs, but a worthy conversation in its own right.
So much this. I was wondering aloud the other day if every ex-president is furiously searching all their offices right now.
I wonder how someone like Bush 43 coming forward and publicly returning erroneously-kept classified documents would shift perspectives. Would it further destigmatize the whole issue and get everyone more "off the hook" or would it serve to further underline the differences in how it was handled by Biden (and in this example, Bush) vs. Trump?
I agree with your analysis but I do differ slightly with the analogy of leaving the store. Biden didn’t stop at the exit and realize he had items in his bag. He took the items home and “realized” they were in his bag SIX YEARS LATER!
At first I was on board with the differentiation that he voluntarily returned them when they were discovered but now that we’ve had two additional “discoveries” of more documents not originally turned over we are getting closer to Trump territory.
Just wanted to say that I'm really excited to be a subscriber!