Unlike Trump, Biden didn’t take classified documents 'willfully,' MSNBC analyst argues

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin argued Tuesday that there's no evidence President Biden kept classified documents from his time as vice president "willfully."

News broke Monday night that a batch of classified documents were discovered by attorneys in the president's office at the Penn Biden Center on Nov. 2. The National Archives took possession of the documents on Nov. 3 while the Department of Justice continues to review the matter.

Several people have made comparisons between the actions of Biden and former President Donald Trump after the latter's Mar-a-Lago home was raided by the FBI in an effort to retrieve classified documents. 

However, Rubin insisted on MSNBC’s "Katy Tur Reports" that there were significant differences between the two, particularly regarding "willfulness."

"I’d venture to say the biggest difference here is one that the law recognizes, and that’s one of willfulness. There’s nothing to indicate based on what we know so far, that President Biden either took these documents willfully or retained them willfully. And when you look back at the Trump search warrant application, there are three statutes that the Department of Justice said they were investigating violations of. One has to do with concealing documents from the government in an ongoing investigation. Certainly, we’re not there with President Biden yet," Rubin said.

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She added, "But the other two have to do with unlawfully retaining or delivering documents, whether they be documents that affect the national defense, and the Espionage Act’s case, or just simply holding on to government records, those both require willfulness. That’s a level of intent that we’re not seeing so far in the Biden case. And that’s a distinction with deference."

Rubin did admit that the case is still ongoing and could change but insisted that currently there are significant differences between Trump and Biden.

Other mainstream media outlets attempted to argue that the Trump and Biden cases were different despite both being found improperly storing classified documents. 

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Fellow MSNBC analyst Joyce Alene claimed that it was an "apples to oranges" situation while the Washington Post tweeted that Trump’s situation "appears quite different" because Trump’s case involved "possible obstruction of justice or destruction of records."

These defenses were blasted by Twitter users as hypocritical after blasting Trump for potentially violating federal law over his classified documents while attempting to excuse or explain Biden’s. 

Rubin's comments also faced backlash.

"Good news from MSNBC legal analyst @lawofruby: 'There’s nothing to indicate, based on what we know so far, that President Biden either took these documents willfully or retained them willfully.; Just a big whoopsies!" Grabien founder Tom Elliott wrote.

Townhall.com columnist Brad Slager tweeted, "With Trump's documents we were assured that it was a national calamity and had geopolitical ramifications...before anyone knew what was in the files. Today they are already waving off the fact that Biden illegally had files from his VP days."

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Biden ignored questions on the news after finishing his bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday.