Equal justice under the law is a difficult concept to understand for CBS Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan. During an interview Sunday with Republican Congressman Mike Turner, Brennan seemed stunned that he called for both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to be treated the same for mishandling classified documents.
“You were talking about classified documents, mishandled by the current president, and you said that when it came to Biden and Trump, they're both equally egregious with equal classification issues.This past week, President Biden was interviewed by special counsel Robert Hur,” Brennan noted.
She then asked “Will there be legal consequences? Will your committee do anything to act on this? I mean, what exactly do you mean equally egregious?”
Turner responded frankly which seemed to irk Brennan:
Well, when you look at the documents, both the classification level and the subject matter, both sides, Trump and Biden's documents, if they had been released in the public or gotten into the hands of nefarious parties, would be damaging to the United States national security. When I look at those documents, there are documents on both sides, equally egregious, that would have negative consequences to our means, methods, techniques and our allies. In this instance, I think President Biden needs the same consequence that they pursue with President Trump. The actions are the same. And in this instance, if you notice—
Brennan jumped in to ask incredulously: “Indictment?”
“He was a serial classified document hoarder,” Turner said about Biden. “I reviewed documents that were from all the time that he's been in government. This really is a very serious breach by President Biden.”
She then asked for clarification: “Just to be clear here, though are you saying that President Biden had top secret and TFSCI classification level documents in his personal home?”
“That's public already. Margaret, so I'm not confirming something that people don't already know. That is correct,” Turner responded.
Brennan asked again: “So I think you're saying that he should be indicted when you say treated the same?”
“I think they need to be treated exactly the same. They're continuing their investigation with President Biden. I don't think, if President Biden in the end has been found to violate the law and I believe from what I've seen that he has, that he should be treated any differently than Donald Trump,” Turner added.
“Why would he? Just because he's President or because he's a Democrat? And that’s how the Department of Justice has been acting. They need to be treated the same.”
Turner pointing out how there haven't been leaks during the investigation into Biden's mishandling of classified documents demonstrates bias by both the Justice Department and the media at large. How else can you explain how there have been zero leaks so far in the Biden investigation? Brennan skips right over this observation.
The transcript is below:
CBS’s Face the Nation
10/15/2023
11:13:49 a.m. EasternMARGARET BRENNAN: You were talking about classified documents, mishandled by the current president, and you said that when it came to Biden and Trump, they're both equally egregious with equal classification issues. This past week, President Biden was interviewed by special counsel Robert Hur. Will there be legal consequences? Will your committee do anything to act on this? I mean, what exactly do you mean equally egregious?
REP. MIKE TURNER: Well, when you look at the documents, both the classification level and the subject matter, both sides, Trump and Biden's documents, if they had been released in the public or gotten into the hands of nefarious parties, would be damaging to the United States national security. When I look at those documents, there are documents on both sides, equally egregious, that would have negative consequences to our means, methods, techniques and our allies. In this instance, I think President Biden needs the same consequence that they pursue with President Trump. The actions are the same. And in this instance, if you notice—
BRENNAN: Indictment?
TURNER: You're getting leak after leak, after leak on the Trump documents. You're hearing nothing on the Biden documents. So you're continuing to see the inequality that comes out of the Justice Department as there's silence on the other side with respect to Biden's—and by the way, he was a serial classified document hoarder. I reviewed documents that were from all the time that he's been in government. This really is a very serious breach by President Biden.
BRENNAN: Just to be clear here, though are you saying that President Biden had top secret and TFSCI classification level documents in his personal home?
TURNER: That's public already. Margaret, so I'm not confirming something that people don't already know. That is correct.
BRENNAN: Okay. So I think you're saying that he should be indicted when you say treated the same?
TURNER: I think they need to be treated exactly the same. They're continuing their investigation with President Biden. I don't think, if President Biden in the end has been found to violate the law and I believe from what I've seen that he has, that he should be treated any differently than Donald Trump. Why would he? Just because he's President or because he's a Democrat? And that’s how the Department of Justice has been acting. They need to be treated the same.
