Judging Freedom - No Biden Visitor Logs_

Episode Date: January 16, 2023

#Biden #ClassifiedSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Monday, January 16th, 2023, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It's about three o'clock in the afternoon here on the east coast of the United States. When I got up this morning, I saw that the Republicans in the House of Representatives are threatening to subpoena the White House for a copy of the visitor logs that is a record of who comes and goes at President Biden's Wilmington, Delaware residence, his private home. The White House responds by saying there are no visitor logs. It's a head scratcher. I don't know of any statute that requires presidents to keep logs of who comes into their private homes. However, if the CIA, pardon me, God forbid,

if the Secret Service scrutinizes everybody that enters the property for security purposes. I would think there'd be a record of who they scrutinize. So records must exist somewhere. This whole thing about classified documents and national defense information is a bit of a head scratcher. I believe the case against Donald Trump is a very strong one. I've said this before. I've said it, but I say it with no joy since he's been my friend for 35 going on 40 years now. But the case against him at Mar-a-Lago is a very strong one for intentionally removing national defense information from the White House to a venue where it is not legal to keep it, even for the president.

And for hiding it from government investigators. That's called obstruction of justice. But one of the things he said I keep thinking about. He said, ah, all presidents do it. All presidents, you know, treat this stuff as if it's their personal property. Maybe he's right. I mean, that doesn't make it lawful, but maybe he's right. I mean, Joe Biden kept this stuff in his garage. How secure is that? It's obviously not secure. It's obviously not a federal facility. It's obviously the same crime, crime, C-R-I-M-E, that Donald Trump could be

prosecuted for. Now, we know from the Trump years that a sitting president's not going to be prosecuted. There are three scholarly opinions on this that the DOJ has. One says the president can be prosecuted. Two say the president cannot. The two that say he cannot are the ones that the DOJ, going back to the Nixon years, has abided by. So I don't think Joe has to worry about anything happening while he's in the White House. If he's reelected, he doesn't have to worry because then by the time he finishes his second term, the statute of limitations, which is five years, will have run on any crime involving these classified documents. But it makes you wonder, what are these guys thinking? Did Donald Trump take classified national defense information, nuclear secrets about Iran and Israel

to Mar-a-Lago so he could boast to his friends about it? Did Joe Biden bring that stuff to Wilmington, Delaware, and then forget that it was there? I don't know where this is going to go. The I didn't know about it defense. Okay. When the federal government prosecutes anyone for bank robbery, terrorism, distribution of drugs, bank fraud, whatever the crime may be, the government must prove that the person intended to commit the crime, except for crimes under the Espionage Act, which includes these. So the, I forgot about it, I didn't know it was there, argument is not a defense. Just as when Mrs. Clinton said she didn't realize that she left national defense information on her private server in a closet in her and her husband's home in Chappaqua, New York. She said I didn't know it was there. That is not a defense. This is the rare federal statute. Same

statute they're going to prosecute Trump for. Same statute that Joe Biden has apparently violated. Same statute that Mrs. Clinton violated and wasn't prosecuted for. This is the rare federal statute where the government does not have to prove intent. It only has to prove that you did it, that you brought it to your home and caused it to be there, whether you forgot about it or whether you brought it intentionally. More as we get it. Judge Napolitano for judging freedom.