Lindsey Graham: If you believe special counsel should be held for Trump, it should be for Biden
South Carolina Republican reacts to the White House's response to classified documents discovered at the Penn Biden Center on 'The Story.'
Senate Judiciary Committee member Lindsey Graham said Wednesday it will "hurt the country" if Attorney General Merrick Garland does not take swift, equitable action in light of classified documents being found in a University of Pennsylvania-linked office previously used by President Biden.
Graham told Fox News a special counsel should be promptly appointed to investigate the matter with the same tenacity that Garland sought to probe President Donald Trump following the discovery of classified material at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. Following Graham's interview, Fox News confirmed that aides to Biden discovered at least one more batch of classified documents from his time as vice president in Biden's possession.
Reacting to what he called a ridiculous response by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to Fox News' Peter Doocy's questions, the South Carolina senator said many Americans are "disgusted with the standard that exists in America when it comes to conservatives and everybody else."
"So what I think if you believe a special counsel is necessary to assure the public about the handling of classified documents by Donald Trump, you should apply special counsel to the mishandling of classified documents by President Biden when he was vice president," he said.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers remarks alongside Lisa O. Monaco. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Failure to do so, Graham said, will damage the republic and reinforce the one-sided media narrative that when Democrats do something Republicans are punished or investigated for, it is acceptable.
Graham referenced the fact Clinton National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger pleaded guilty in 2005 to knowingly removing classified information from the National Archives -- and received probation, a fine and surrender of his security clearance – according to an announcement at the time from then-Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wray, who is currently FBI director.
The documents had to do with the Millennium Attacks terror plot, which was foiled in part after an Al-Qaeda-trained Algerian was detained debarking an international ferry at Port Angeles, Washington in 1999 with explosives purportedly meant to be used at LAX on New Year's Eve.
President Biden (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
"General [David] Petraeus was prosecuted for turning over classified information [to a reporter]… He made a mistake, but he was actually prosecuted… Sandy Berger put classified information in his socks. So, yes, but here's what I believe when it comes to presidents, the idea of prosecuting a president regarding this handling classified information is very problematic because they have the right to declassify," Graham said.
"If there's not a special counsel appointed to find out how this happened with President Biden regarding classified information, there is going to be a lot of angst -- It will hurt the country," he added.
"Garland If you're listening, if you thought it was necessary, attorney general, to appoint a special counsel regarding President Trump, then you need to do the exact same thing regarding President Biden when it comes to handling classified information."
Natl. Security Adviser Sandy Berger, State Secy. Madeleine Albright & Pres. Bill Clinton during NATO 50th anniversary summit event. ( (Photo by Dirck Halstead/Getty Images))
"Sandy Berger put classified information in his socks. So, yes -- but here's what I believe when it comes to presidents, the idea of prosecuting a president regarding this handling classified information is very problematic because they have the right to declassify."
Following the raid on his estate last year, Trump also called for what he considered equal application of justice, pointing to how conservative watchdog Judicial Watch was denied by a judge in its attempt to obtain access to audiotapes President Clinton had kept in his sock drawer.
"Under the Presidential Records Act and the very well established Clinton Socks Case, the raid of Mar-a-Lago by the FBI, and the taking of documents and many other items, was illegal," he claimed on his Truth Social platform in December.