Former President Donald J. Trump, who faces a criminal case accusing him of illegally retaining classified documents, on Friday blasted the special counsel’s decision not to charge President Biden over the handling of classified material, accusing prosecutors of unfair double standards.
“You know, look, if he’s not going to be charged, that’s up to them. But then I shouldn’t be impeached,” Mr. Trump said at an event in Harrisburg, Pa. “This is nothing more than selective prosecution of Biden’s political opponent: me.”
Mr. Trump’s speech, at a forum hosted by the National Rifle Association, was his first public remarks on the issue since the special counsel, Robert K. Hurr, released a report saying that although Mr. .Biden had “willfully” withheld and disclosed classified material after his vice presidency ended, criminal charges were not warranted.
Mr Trump said he had worked with “the very hostile and hostile feds” more than Mr Biden, a claim not supported by any evidence. Mr Hurr’s report said the president had fully cooperated with its investigation, while Mr Trump has been accused of misleading the government for months about classified documents in his possession.
Mr. Trump also insisted that Mr. Biden’s transgressions were more serious than his own, in part because Mr. Biden was not president at the time of his actions. Mr. Trump faces 40 criminal charges related to keeping sensitive documents after he left office and refusing to return them, even after being subpoenaed for classified records.
“They’re desperately trying to turn the debacle of the Biden document into, ‘Oh, but wasn’t Trump worse?’ NO NO NO. Trump was peanuts by comparison,” Mr. Trump said.
He then referred to comments made by the special counsel questioning Mr Biden’s mental recall, arguing the president mishandled classified material during a time when he was “mentally a little bit better than he is now”.
Mr. Trump’s speech in Pennsylvania, a state expected to be a key battleground state in November, suggested how he might use the special counsel’s report to bolster two arguments central to his campaign: that he is the victim of wrongful prosecution by Democrats and that Mr. Biden is not mentally fit enough to be president.
Mr. Trump also made clear his desire to wipe out the Democratic base of support in a state he falsely claimed to have won twice. Without elaborating, he argued that the border crisis would disproportionately affect key constituencies he’s trying to win over from Democrats: “African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans and all the unions.”
But even as it signaled an effort to woo voters, Mr. Trump also used the setting of his speech — a forum at an outdoor sporting event sponsored by the NRA — to emphasize his support for gun rights, an issue at the heart of conservative politics.
He vowed to staunchly defend gun rights from an “assault” by Democrats. While he offered few concrete policy proposals, he promised to roll back Mr. Biden’s gun control efforts.
“No one will lay a finger on your firearms,” he told the crowd, which erupted in cheers.
