A quick look at the report on Biden’s mishandling of documents

They believed a jury wouldn’t find him guilty partially based on ‘diminished faculties’ and an ‘unawareness he was sharing classified docs’

The Report released on Biden’s handling of documents begins with the executive summary explaining how Biden did in fact WILLFULLY retain AND disclose documents that should have been turned over, stating that,

“These materials included (1) marked classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, and (2) notebooks containing Mr. Biden's handwritten entries about issues of national security and foreign policy implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods. FBI agents recovered these materials from the garage, offices, and basement den in Mr. Biden's Wilmington, Delaware home.”

However, they also said that they decided NOT to recommend charges against Biden for doing so, saying that the evidence does NOT prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Biden is guilty of crimes.

They also said,

“Prosecution of Mr. Biden is also unwarranted based on our consideration of the aggravating and mitigating factors set forth in the Department of Justice's Principles of Federal Prosecution. For these reasons, we decline prosecution of Mr. Biden.”

They continue by giving their reasoning behind not bringing charges. Here’s context they provide around the documents he retained.

1. Biden collected these documents that he believed were relevant historic records to his career in particular, ones he used to write memoirs that were published in 2007, and 2017.

2. He also retained documents that detailed his opposition to sending more troops to Afghanistan, which he supposedly believed history would show was the wrong move. These included a hand written memo he wrote to Obama over Thanksgiving in 2009, and other relevant docs marked as classified.

3. Other docs included handwritten notes that are themselves classified, ones that were kept in UNSECURED and UNAUTHORIZED areas of his Delaware and Virginia homes, some of which were used as reference when he wrote his second memoir.

Despite these documents from fall 2009 having classification markings up to the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level, they still determined that the evidence against him wouldn’t be enough.

“Nevertheless, we do not believe this evidence is sufficient, as jurors would likely find reasonable doubt for one or more of several reasons.”

When the docs were found in his homes as Vice President and President, he had authority to keep these documents in his home.

They further said, “The best case for charges would rely on Mr. Biden's possession of the Afghanistan documents in his Virginia home in February 2017, when he was a private citizen and when he told his ghostwriter he had just found classified material.”

Skipping ahead through further details regarding the docs he retained, the report discusses how no other president or vice president has been prosecuted for knowingly retaining documents after leaving office, despite many doing so in the past—with Trump being the exception.

They considered this to be important context in considering whether or not to prosecute Biden.

According to eyeslasho on X, consistent with the executive summary, there is a perception that Biden would likely use his “diminished faculties and faulty memory”—essentially he’s too old and senile—to make arguments to a jury that he wasn’t even aware he was sharing classified materials with others, suggesting the jury would see that is reasonable doubt that he intentionally broke the law.

Images by eyeslasho

The report also lays out how Biden had multiple lapses in memory, including not knowing which years his term as VP ended or began.

I may cover more of this depending on what else is discovered in the report.