Appearing on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” program to speak with Sean Hannity about the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified information and the recently released Special Counsel report into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified information. Doing so, Habba called for the charges against former President Trump to be dropped.
As background, in his report on Biden’s handling of the documents, the special counsel said, “We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory. Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him—by then a former president well into his eighties of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”
Elsewhere, the special counsel provided, “In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (“if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?”), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (“in 2009, am I still Vice President?”), He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he “had a real difference” of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama. In a case where the government must prove that Mr. Biden knew he had possession of the classified Afghanistan documents after the vice presidency and chose to keep those documents, knowing he was violating the law, we expect that at trial, his attorneys would emphasize these limitations in his recall.”
So, Habba went on “Hannity” to comment on how Trump is being prosecuted for his handling of classified information, information Trump claims he was allowed to take with him to Mar-a-Lago because he declassified it under the Presidential Records Act, whereas Biden is not being prosecuted for keeping classified information at his Delaware home despite not being allowed to do so as a former Vice President.
Hannity, introducing the topic, said, “Earlier today, former President Trump, he called on the special counsel in his cases to immediately drop all charges against him, especially in the classified documents case, following news that Biden will not be charged, and President Trump called Biden’s case quote 100 times more severe and called out the two standards of justice in our country. And now with the reaction is Trump legal spokesperson Alina Habba. Legally speaking . . . is their standard that you can willfully retain and handle classified documents and not be punished for it. Does that open up a legal window for you and your legal team to go in and say, you know, we need equal application of our laws here?”
Responding, Habba claimed, “Absolutely. I think the one thing that we learned today from Special Counsel of her is that there is in fact, and not that we didn’t know it, Shawn, two systems of justice one, if you’re a Republican one, if you’re a Democrat, we’ve seen it time and time again, you’ve spoken of it. The way that this can be used and what has become obvious that they haven’t really thought about is they try and look impartial.”
She continued, “They try and say, ‘Okay, we’re gonna read Mara Lago, oh, maybe that was a little too much. Let’s peel it back. Let’s look at Biden’s documents.’ One thing they’re forgetting that is so clear to me as an attorney, is that, number one, President Trump has one thing that Biden as Senator Biden, as Vice President Biden didn’t have the Presidential Records Act, something that has shielded President Clinton. So when you’re looking at this dual system of justice, they’re going to have to face the music when we’re in court, they’re going to have to answer questions.”
She then added that she agrees with Trump, saying, “And you know what, we shouldn’t even be going to court. Honestly, I agree with my client 100%. They need to drop charges and let Americans believe that we’re not going to be treated differently depending on our politics. I don’t think they’re capable of it. I think they have severe Trump derangement syndrome. But you know, it’s very obvious what’s happening here. But I do want to thank Special Counsel her for making it very clear to the American public that this man can’t even remember when his son was passed. And more importantly, Shawn, did you see what he said today? In the press conference, he doubled down on it and said, I didn’t think I needed to answer that question. Well, that’s another problem that we haven’t spoken about. You’re sitting in an investigation, you have an obligation to answer truthfully, and honestly, today was just mind boggling. They absolutely should drop the charges. We shouldn’t even have to go as far as to defend it.”
Watch Habba here:
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