Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Does the “Word of a Biden” Extend to the Biden Delaware Documents? . ( Jonathan Turley )
Jonathan Turley ^ | January 30, 2023 | Jonathan Turley

Posted on 01/30/2023 11:54:46 AM PST by george76

Below is my column in the New York Post on the pledge of transparency by President Joe Biden in the classified documents scandal. Yesterday, President Biden assured the public that it could take “the word of a Biden” on their bright future. That would be more reassuring if he would fulfill his pledge to be “very transparent” on his storage of documents from his time as senator and vice president.

Here is the column:

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has repeatedly assured the public that President Biden is committed in the classified-document scandal to move forward in “a very transparent way.” Putting aside the refusal to share any information beyond a desire to be fully transparent, Biden has one major test awaiting him on his pledge: his senatorial records.

There has been much discussion of a classified document being found in his personal library in Wilmington, but there is a huge library of Biden documents sitting in the University of Delaware. The university is sitting on Biden documents due to a cynical 2012 arrangement made by Biden when he was vice president and contemplating a run for the presidency.

The president effectively locked away his records by giving them to the university, which has claimed for a decade that it is still working to organize and catalog the documents. He has refused to allow the public or the press to see the documents. With the recent reports that Biden may have included classified information in notebooks found at his residence, the status of the University of Delaware documents is becoming more and more untenable for the White House.

University ‘lockbox’..

The University of Delaware has been used for years to shield potentially embarrassing documents from public review for the Biden family, including allegations that the president engaged in sexual harassment or assault as a member of the Senate. The university effectively agreed to serve as a type of lock box for the Bidens to prevent a review of his senatorial records as he ran for higher office.At great public cost, the university has fought efforts by the media and the public to allow access to the documents. It is a troubling position for any institution of higher education to fight access to historical materials . . . for years.

Now, however, there is growing concern that the files may not only include incriminating information on past sexual-assault allegations but actual classified information. There is already confirmation that Biden removed classified information from the Senate more than 14 years ago. It now appears he also may have transferred classified information from briefings and documents to his notebooks. That raises the question of whether such information is contained in the notebooks and papers housed at the university.

If President Biden is ready to embrace transparency, he can start by finally dropping his opposition to any review of his senatorial documents. At a minimum, the FBI should request access to determine if his violation of classified rules extends to this mountain of material given to the university.

No way to secure files..

For decades, I have written and testified on why public servants should not be able to claim records from public service. This work includes a work on presidential papers published by Cornell in 2003 where I traced the flawed arguments of public servants that such documents are entirely their property.

Biden is the poster boy for how the claim of private ownership can run against principles of good government and the public interest. Biden became hugely wealthy while in public service as did his family. The Bidens have long been accused of open influence peddling to garner millions of dollars and choice jobs or contracts for family members. These documents could shed light on that corrupt history.

More importantly, the university is now actively involved in stopping inquiries into whether Biden may have assaulted a staff member or engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment of female staffers. It could also be shielding classified information from being located.

The “very transparent way” should also extend to other matters of great public interest. Even if Biden is not willing to give the public and press general access to these records, he should be willing to allow an independent third party to remove any documents related to matters of great public interest, including allegations of sexual misconduct and influence peddling.

Biden has yet to come up with a plausible reason why he is using the University of Delaware to prevent review of the documents. Indeed, the University of Delaware continues to expend public funds by making technical arguments against access while ignoring questions about the use of an academic institution to shield potentially embarrassing records.

Of course, the FBI does not need permission. They have ample reason to demand access in light of the president’s serial violations. Indeed, past discoveries form a perfect overlaid map of where the president has lived or worked in the past decade. Yet although there is new interest in searching his other residence, there has been little discussion of the largest trove of documents sitting in the bowels of the University of Delaware.

Presumably, this is one question that Jean-Pierre could actually answer. If the president is truly striving to be “very transparent,” he should be able to tell the University of Delaware that his records should be open to outside review. Otherwise, Biden’s pledge is being nothing but transparently dishonest.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Delaware; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: New York; US: Pennsylvania; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: pennbiden; reade; tara; tarareade; transparency

1 posted on 01/30/2023 11:54:46 AM PST by george76
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

one question that Jean-Pierre could actually answer. If joe is truly striving to be “very transparent,” he should be able to tell the University of Delaware that his records should be open to outside review.. ~Jonathan Turley


2 posted on 01/30/2023 11:59:29 AM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: george76
What we're missing is the contents of the documents. It may give us a clue as why they were in Biden's possession...and all over the place.

Jordan asked to see them...and the DOJ said no....which gives me pause.

And everyone says they're old...well....he campaigned and worked out of his home during Covid....so I don't think so.

3 posted on 01/30/2023 12:02:26 PM PST by Sacajaweau ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sacajaweau

There maybe hidden ( by the university staff ) documents that confirm / expand - Tara Reade claim that Biden, sexually assaulted her in 1993 in a Capitol Hill office building when she was a staff assistant in his Senate office.


4 posted on 01/30/2023 12:20:32 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: SGCOS

The excrement is useful for growing flowers and in agriculture. The word of a Biden is not as valuable.

And....

President says ‘no one f-—s with a Biden’ in Florida
October 5,2022.


6 posted on 01/30/2023 12:31:06 PM PST by frank ballenger (You have summoned up a thundercloud. You're gonna hear from me. Anthem by Leonard Cohen)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: george76
...a cynical 2012 arrangement made by Biden when he was vice president and contemplating a run for the presidency.

It ought to be against the law to make cozy arrangements like that. I'm sure the GOP House will get right on it and get the bill approved by the Senate and the scoundrel himself.

How secure can those documents be on an university campus, anyway? Where are burglars when you need them?

Lastly, I doubt we'll find anything in the University of Delaware Library because Biden has always been a perfect angel his entire life and career. He is, after all, a Democrat.

7 posted on 01/30/2023 1:04:41 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (Once you get people to believe that a plural pronoun is singular, they'll believe anything - nicollo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: george76

His word as a Biden. What does that even mean. For crying out loud, his father was a used car salesman. I suppose his sales pitches were his word as a Biden.


8 posted on 01/30/2023 1:23:11 PM PST by xkaydet65
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: george76

Biden assured the public that it could take the word of a Biden” on their bright future.

It’s akin to believing the sign over the Auschwitz gate.


9 posted on 01/30/2023 1:34:37 PM PST by Vaduz (LAWYERS )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: george76

Holy cow. I think we all know the Penn Biden University Central deal stinks to high heaven. But this is the first I’ve heard that there is more - a lot more - at the University of Delaware, too.

When did he think he was going to get this all sorted out? Or was it all just to TOD seamlessly to Hunter and/or Jill as personal effects?


10 posted on 01/30/2023 1:38:54 PM PST by gloryblaze
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: george76

“I promise you that if I am elected, I’ll always tell you the truth,” said Biden in his first tweet.

In the second tweet, Biden said: “You deserve a president who tells the truth.”


11 posted on 01/30/2023 1:48:07 PM PST by wardamneagle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: george76

I heard that in the Classified Papers found by the FBI in Benedict Bidens’s house was Obama’s REAL Birth Certificate! Ha-ha!


12 posted on 01/30/2023 2:34:42 PM PST by 2harddrive (FREE 3D-printable Firearm blueprints available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: george76
I admire Jonathan Turley *and* Alan Dershowitz: two liberal scholars who believe that laws apply to both Republicans *and* Democrats.
13 posted on 01/30/2023 3:25:54 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (No Doubt Now: Stolen Election)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative

Dershowitz says the state should force you to get the jab. Not only is Dershowitz a Epstein Island ahole, he’s a fugging Nazi with his shot talk. Fug the mofo 1000 X.


14 posted on 01/30/2023 3:28:05 PM PST by csvset (tolerance becomes a crime when attached to evil)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: csvset
I don't see Dershowitz as the kind of guy who has much time for females of any age...not at this point in his life. He's more concerned with law books and getting his face on TV. It seems very possible that he was Epstein's lawyer. We can be sure that Epstein knew that he needed good lawyers around him.
15 posted on 01/30/2023 3:46:02 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (No Doubt Now: Stolen Election)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: george76

He wants to make very clear that he takes classified documents. Seriously.


16 posted on 01/30/2023 5:25:22 PM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson