Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach County in Florida, suggested on Thursday morning that the DOJ could bring charges against Trump partly as a way to emphasize the seriousness of the case.
“From a prosecutor’s perspective this is exactly like the Trump situation at Mar-a-Lago, except for just about everything,” Aronberg told CNN and compared the two situations.
“There is no allegation here that Biden personally handled the documents or claimed them for himself or refused to give them back or obstructed attempts by the feds to retrieve them,” he said.
Earlier this week, an attorney for President Biden revealed that “a small number of classified documents” dating from his time as vice president had been discovered at Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., on November 2, 2022.
The White House said Biden’s lawyers alerted the National Archives promptly when the documents were discovered. A second batch of classified documents was discovered at another location on Wednesday.
Aronberg noted that Biden’s attorneys had notified the archives and returned the documents and also pointed to the fact that a much larger number of classified documents had been stored at Mar-a-Lago.
Aronberg suggested the Biden documents could make it more likely that Trump is charged.
“This definitely will help Trump in the MAGA court of public opinion,” Aronberg said. “When Trump gets indicted—and I think it’s more of a when than an if—and Biden doesn’t, he’ll claim disparate treatment and this will become Trump’s number one grievance and this will help him rally his loyal base.”
“But it should not impact the Department of Justice’s decision on charging Trump in the Mar-a-Lago documents,” he said.
Aronberg added that “it could actually—if it does impact it—could actually make it a bit more likely the Department of Justice charges Trump for obstruction because that charge, which is the most serious charge being considered—gets you up to 20 years in prison—that charge would show the public why the Trump situation is unique and perhaps justifies the unprecedented move of being the first prosecutor in the history of our country to indict a former president.”
“So, ironically this whole situation could come back to bite Trump,” he said.
There were more than 325 classified documents at Trump’s residence and the matter is now being investigated by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
According to an affidavit related to the August 8, 2022 FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, more than 100 classified documents were in boxes that were taken from Mar-a-Lago by the National Archives and 25 were marked top secret.
The affidavit also stated that there was “probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at the premises.”
Republicans have called for an investigation of Biden’s handling of the documents in question, with some even suggesting the FBI should raid Biden’s homes.
Newsweek has asked the DOJ for comment.
