WASHINGTON – When Donald Trump announced Thursday night to the world that he was indicted for a number of federal charges, he used a consistent message: Joe Biden uses the government to crush the political comeback.
Trump and his Republican allies rushed to defend him without mentioning that the attorney general appointed Biden named a special prosecutor to oversee the investigation. This was done to shield the president from any decision to bring charges. It’s a nuance that voters are likely to miss, since the indictment fuels Republican fears of political bias within the Justice Department.
Biden’s strategy has not changed when it comes his political rival’s legal troubles: Keep quiet and go about White House affairs.
Maria Cardona is a member of the Democratic National Committee and a party strategist. She said, “It falls into the category that political idioms use when you see your opponent destroying themselves. Just get out of their way.” “They want President Biden to do what he does best: focus on governing and delivering. They also want him to focus on communicating what he has accomplished. And they want him to continue to deliver on what he had promised the American people. In terms of the campaign continue to emphasize the message that he needs to do the job.”
It was the Biden used when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrested Trump in March, despite Republicans’ claims that Democrats orchestrated the charges to gain political advantage. This time, Biden has a much closer relationship with the proceedings: The Attorney General works at his pleasure. Trump wants to remind voters of this.
Trump began his announcement of being indicted by saying, “The corrupt Biden administration has informed my lawyers,” and then went on to describe it as a “boxes hysteria” and an “election interference.”
Biden’s allies, legal experts and strategists say that the president might not have much choice other than to remain silent.
Rick Wilson, political consultant and co-founder The Lincoln Project, an anti Trump group, said that Biden was “in a little bit of a bind” because Trump attacked his Justice Department, and the President held back on defending it.
Wilson stated that “a centerpiece of Trump’s defence is, ‘This was a political prosecution against me brought by the Biden Government’.” “That’s a sort of unsolvable issue for Biden, in a sense, because if he denies it, then that is a confession of guilt to the MAGA.”
He said, “They will accuse Biden of corruption. Biden should not give them ammunition by which to attack him.”
Biden’s allies paint the liability as being baked in.
“Well, it’s always a political liability to enforce the law when elected officials are prominent. You’re subjected to this charge each and every time. “But what is the alternative?” asked Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a senior member on the House Oversight Committee. “So, we’re going have a class of Americans to whom the law doesn’t apply?”
What happened to the principle of no one being above the law? “I think most Americans understand that principle,” he said. In the case of Trump “there is a big difference — it’s obstruction of justice and willful violation of the law,” he said.
“Go for the Jugular”
Biden was asked during a press conference on Thursday what he would tell Americans in order to convince them that they can trust the Justice Department. He responded by saying his record as a president belies the allegations he is now facing.
He said: “You will notice that I have never — not once — ever — suggested to Justice Department what it should or shouldn’t do in deciding whether or not to bring charges. “I’m honest.”
The president must resist the pressure to fight, because Democrats are caught between wanting to see Trump fall under the full weight and force of the courts or still being around to take on Biden at the general election in 2018.
A Democratic strategist said that Biden and White House are “comfortable”, with a policy that does not deliver the “red meat” that some Democrats might be hoping for.
The strategist admitted that, for now, the best way to handle certain things in politics was to not interrupt good stories. He also acknowledged one advantage of facing the former president once again.
He said, “They’ve done it before with Trump.”
T.J. Rooney said that the Pennsylvania Democratic Party’s former chairman, T.J. Rooney stated: “We must have Trump win the primaries at the end of this.”
The Biden White House hopes to recreate the split-screen that took place in April when images of Trump’s aircraft sitting on a New York airport tarmac ahead of his historic trial in a hush-money case were flashed while Biden delivered a policy address in suburban Minneapolis.
Most people indicted on espionage charges don’t win the GOP nomination. “They get sent to the supermax.”
Rick Wilson
Cardona cautioned that “in this crazy atmosphere of politics, you cannot take anything for granted.” They’re not assuming this will be a good thing for Biden.
It seems that the regular calculation has been thrown out of the window.
Wilson stated that “most people who are indicted on espionage charges don’t win the GOP nomination.” “They go to the supermax.”
Biden may be able to dispel the notion that Trump’s Justice Department is trying to weaken his most formidable opponent by timing his latest indictment.
William Barr, the former attorney general of the Trump administration, has dismissed the notion the Justice Department was acting politically by indicting Trump.
Barr suggested that if prosecutors were motivated by political motives, they may wait until the end of the election cycle before indicting Trump or not indict him in any way so as to not create an opportunity for a Republican opponent better suited to overcome the former President’s weaknesses.
Barr told NBC News that if the Justice Department was political, it would not move quickly against him. Barr told NBC News that a politically motivated Justice Department would “not move him or not too soon” and wait to “knock [him] out at the end”.
He said: “Actually the political play would be and not indicting him, but leaving the thing spinning for a bit.”
Legal experts suggest that Biden should keep his silence.
“The best thing he could do is to stay away from these investigations and never comment on them,” said Norm Ei, the ethics czar at the White House for President Barack Obama. Let the process take its course.
He said of Trump: “The guy will be bleeding from multiple criminal cuts that he has made himself.”
Eisen said that the circumstances favor Biden in terms of politics, even though the president is potentially liable for the discovery of classified records found inside his office and home.
He said: “Privately I think that the Trump prosecution will be good news for Biden.” “If Biden were personally liable, this would not be as beneficial. But it is highly unlikely that Biden will have any liability in this case.”
Eisen warned, however, “it is very early days and there can be a change in the situation.”
Let others argue the case
Biden is being investigated by a separate special prosecutor over the handling of classified documents. This investigation was launched after the personal attorneys for the president found government files marked as classified documents from the time he served as vice president in his now closed Washington think tank. The National Archives took the documents after the lawyers for the president informed them. The White House did not reveal the discovery until January, when new documents were found in the president’s Delaware house and garage. This led to Trump accusing a layered justice system.
Biden did not speak up despite being heavily criticized for his lack of transparency on the issue when new searches were conducted earlier this year. When leaving office, presidents and vice-presidents must return all government documents to the National Archives and Records Administration.
Hunter Biden is the son of the president and also being investigated by the Justice Department. Trump and his allies often bring this up when they discuss the foreign business dealings of the Bidens.
Biden could be in political danger if he makes comments that raise suspicions about him interfering in the investigation.
In a May interview, the president told MSNBC that “my son has done no wrong.” Jill Biden , the first lady of the United States, told NBC News in her East Wing office that “Hunter was innocent” last year.
Legal experts say that Biden’s decision on how to handle his son’s situation has complicated the appearance and neutrality.
Eisen stated, “As painful as it may be for any parent to have their lips bitten, he is also the President.” “Let other people make that argument.”
Richard Painter, who was the White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007, said that it is best to refrain from commenting on criminal cases pending. He said that the most serious risk is private pressure. However, he did not see any evidence of this. Painter has criticized Biden’s handling classified documents.
Even if Hunter Biden were charged by the Justice Department, it would not satisfy Biden’s critics that the system unfairly targets Trump.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who has been under investigation by FBI for his role in efforts against the 2020 election, has accused the Biden Justice department of “launching an unabated weaponization” of the federal government.
In an interview, Perry, the chairman of the far right Freedom Caucus said, “They are targeting anyone that they disagree politically with and, of course, they will target the person or symbol of the party that they most despise.”
He had no issue with the Justice Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden. “I don’t really square it. With all due respect, I’m sure that if you were to have a laptop such as this out in public and your local police found it, you would be already in jail.”
