California state senator and Republican Dan Goldman has asserted that the White House and the Department of Justice no longer have the same “barrier” that “existed” under Biden.
Former residence impeachment counsel Dan Goldman (D-NY) praised the Biden administration’s handling of confidential material compared to the Trump administration’s handling of a similar case.
Goldman stated last week that it wasn’t necessary to appoint a special counsel in the Biden case, but today he fully supports Robert Hur’s nomination.
This was in no way an accident. “I don’t believe any of us have a solid concept of what information the attorney general had when he elected to designate Mr. Hur as the special counsel,” CBS’s “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan said of Goldman’s comments. This administration is highly rule-abiding, which is an often-overlooked but critical aspect of their work. There is now a chasm and wall between the Justice Department and the White House, which did not exist before.
Goldman further said, “they have done everything they can to comply,” referring to Biden’s team’s dealings with the Justice Department and the National Archives. In contrast, “past President Trump has obstructed justice at every level,” Goldman said.
The FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last year and top-secret retrieved materials from there. Trump and his staff have claimed that former President Barack Obama assisted the National Archives in the days leading up to the raid.
Brennan challenged Goldman’s appraisal of the Trump raid based on four criteria in an opinion article he authored over a year ago. Questions such as whether investigators were misled regarding the number of papers, if there was an agenda behind the spread of the files, etc., were crucial. Goldman said, “absolutely,” that Biden should be held to the same standards.
Goldman said he is certain Biden meets the criteria for an investigation after stressing in the conversation that he needed to see all the information Attorney General Merrick Garland had before selecting Hur.
Goldman identifies four areas in which Trump is distinct from Biden.
Goldman’s security clearance barred him from explaining why his counsel did not have access to confidential information discovered during a search of Biden’s house.
I’m sorry to say I can’t confirm that. We don’t know the circumstances,” a former federal prosecutor said. In due time, the Vice President’s files will be taken from his office and filed away. Additional details will still emerge soon.
To support his assertion that Biden’s staff is “doing everything by the book,” Goldman cited a comment made by Biden’s attorney Bob Bauer.