Numbers in special counsel report refute Trump's claim that Biden had 'more documents'

Former President Donald Trump is again making false claims about President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents while defending his own handling of classified materials. On his social media platform Tuesday, Trump claimed Biden had "more documents, including classified documents" that were left unsupervised, again saying Biden wasn't covered under the Presidential Records Act.

Trump, however, was found to have roughly 340 documents with classification markings at his Mar-a-Lago estate, while Biden had 88 documents with classification markings in his home, according to the respective special counsel investigations in both cases.

The former president also claimed that the documents he had were secure compared to the Biden documents that Trump said had "ZERO supervision or security."

But Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing the Trump classified documents probe, has noted in public court filings that "Whatever risks are posed by storing documents in a private garage" are dwarfed by the risks of storing documents at "an active social club" with "hundreds of members" and "more than 150 full-time, part-time, and temporary employees," which, between January 2021 and August 2022, "hosted more than 150 social events, including weddings, movie premieres, and fundraisers that together drew tens of thousands of guests."

Robert Hur, the special counsel who oversaw the investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents, drew "several material distinctions" between Biden's conduct and the accusations against Trump.

Hur wrote in his 388-page report published last month, "Most notably, after being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Mr. Trump allegedly did the opposite. According to the indictment, he not only refused to return the documents for many months, but he also obstructed justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then to lie about it."

His report added, "In contrast, Mr. Biden turned in classified documents to the National Archives and the Department of Justice, consented to the search of multiple locations including his homes, sat for a voluntary interview, and in other ways cooperated with the investigation."

Hur, who was previously nominated by then-President Trump as U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, wrote in his report that he would not recommend charges against Biden despite uncovering evidence that Biden "willfully retained" classified materials.

Several of those materials, however, bore no classification markings at all. Hur wrote that Biden "regularly created classified documents in the form of his own handwritten notes," which Biden kept after his time as vice president and believed belonged to him.

Smith, meanwhile, charged Trump with 40 felony counts alleging that he unlawfully retained scores of classified documents after leaving the White House and obstructed the government's efforts to retrieve them. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied all wrongdoing.