I learned this week that all presidents mishandle important documents. Even highly-classified papers that say so right on the folder. And it seems when each president, and even vice president, moves out of the White House, their box labeling skills aren’t up to par.
Last year, we witnessed the FBI storming Florida and the country club home of the last president to rescue boxes of classified documents that may have had something to do with national security. Or maybe they didn’t. But they swooped in, made a lot of racket, and took what they could find.
I really don’t have a problem with the folks from the National Archives doing their jobs and securing high-level security documents from both sides of the aisle. Should it be plastered across national news and TV coverage? Maybe. Maybe not. But this past week it was discovered that yes, the man currently sitting in the West Wing, had classified documents sitting in a closet, pretty much unattended in an old office. What the heck?
The guy in Florida is still being investigated by the Department of Justice about his boxes. And he’s upset. Rightly so. And the current West Wing resident hasn’t responded to any questions about the locked closet filled with official documents and boxes. He did have a lot to say, however, about his predecessor’s document predicament when it began. On a 60 Minutes interview he asked, “How that could possibly happen?” and “How could anyone be that irresponsible?” And he’s crowed about how he stresses the strict protocols, especially his daily briefings.
“I read it. I lock it back up and give it to the military.”
Perhaps he thought the locked closet at his after-VP-run think tank organization had some kind of military coding? So far, he’s mum on his own document fumble. His own attorneys found the documents in early November at the Penn Biden Center in D.C. But no one was talking about it right before the mid-term elections. Hmmm. He used the office for his think tank and then his presidential run. The Justice Department is reviewing the documents. Will they rule as hard on each one?
Apparently, there weren’t as many documents as the predecessor had, but still, a classified document is a classified document. There’s protocol that’s supposed to be followed. It’s right or wrong, no matter what side of the aisle you sit on or what shade of blue or red you ascribe to.
The goose and the gander can all call the pot black but at the end of the day, I think they need a better system when these folks move out of the White House. How about if it’s classified it stays and you go?
Come on, man.
