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GOP Rep. Mike Waltz calls the Department of Justice’s ‘dual treatment’ of Trump versus Democrats Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton over their alleged mishandling of classified documents ‘laughable,’ as the former president is set to be arraigned on a 37-count indictment Tuesday.
Trump will appear before a federal judge at 3pm ET today in Miami, Florida. Law enforcement are preparing for up to 50,000 protestors outside the courthouse.
The Florida congressman told DailyMail.com that the scathing federal indictment issued by Special Counsel Jack Smith last week will help Trump ‘politically’ with his support base.
However, Waltz said there is a huge difference between how the DOJ is treating Trump, versus how it handled Hillary Clinton over her missing emails – she never had charges brought against her for destroying over 30,000 emails – and the current investigation by Special Counsel Rob Hur into President Biden’s classified documents found at the Penn Biden Center and at his Delaware home.
‘So many of his followers, so many of my constituents, and not just Republicans across the board from the political sphere, say this is hypocrisy, this is two-tiered justice. The erosion of trust is just devastating,’ he continued.
Former President Donald Trump will spend Tuesday back in court in downtown Miami, this time for the 37 federal charges he faces over his handling of classified documents after departing the White House. Times below are estimates because of security precautions
Law enforcement wearing riot gear ride past the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse on June 13, 2023 in Miami, Florida
He also pointed to the 51 intelligence officers letter from 2020 which falsely discounted the Hunter Biden laptop as Russian ‘misinformation’ as an example of two-tiered justice.
Waltz warned, if the DOJ can do this Trump, ‘they can do this to any American.’
He also brought up the allegations going ‘back further’ when former President Bill Clinton’s National Security Adviser Sandy Berger broke into the National Archives and stuffed original classified documents into his sock before destroying them ‘behind a dumpster.’
All he got was a ‘slap on the wrist,’ Waltz said.
Berger pleaded guilty in 2005 for destroying classified documents he swiped from the National Archives with scissors. Based on his plea deal, Berger did not serve any jail time and instead paid a $100,000 fee.
‘I don’t think President Trump had a bonfire of classified documents out back or hammers, you know, destroying devices like Hillary did,’ he continued.
‘It’s just laughable if it weren’t so serious.’
Republicans are also taking issue with the FBI for failing to hand over a FD-1023 form, that they say shows Biden President Biden getting $5 million from a Ukrainian individual in exchange for policy decisions.
‘If this is all Malarkey, like Biden says it is, and there should be no problem with transparency,’ Waltz said on that.
‘Transparency is always key especially if you say you’ve done nothing wrong,’ he added.
On Monday evening, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, revealed that the Burisma executive who allegedly paid Joe Biden the bribe has kept 17 audio recordings of phone calls as an ‘insurance policy.’
Biden has discounted reports of an internal FBI FD-1023 form that apparently details the ‘arrangement’ for an exchange of money for policy decisions between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.
Trump has blasted the indictment, calling it a ‘political hit job’ and taking swipes at Special Counsel Smith.
‘They took one charge, and they made it 36 different times. And we have a thug who is in charge. This is a political hit job,’ said Trump during a speech over the weekend at the Georgia Republican state convention.
‘Republicans are treated far differently at the Justice Department than Democrats,’ he continued.
Even if Trump theoretically became a convicted felon or went to prison, he would not be legally prohibited from running for president.
The former president gives a wave as he disembarks his Boeing 757 on Monday afternoon ahead of his showdown with a judge
Trump supporter Gregg Donovan stands outside of Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. United States Federal Courthouse, ahead of Trump’s appearance Tuesday
Boxes of potentially classified documents were discovered in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom by the DOJ
Waltz said there is a huge difference between how the DOJ is treating Trump, versus how it handled Hillary Clinton over her missing emails – she never had charges brought against her for destroying over 30,000 emails
Waltz says the Trump indictment won’t impact his 2024 chances
And he could even pardon himself if he wins the 2024 general election.
As of June 9, Trump is still the polling favorite among the Republican candidates – with a 32 point clearance from second place, Ron DeSantis.
Waltz, who also sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), is looking forward to holding the FBI to account.
HPSCI members had a closed door meeting with FBI Director Chris Wray Monday evening.
Waltz told DailyMail.com that he planned to ask Wray about the ‘abuses we’ve seen in the FBI,’ including in Special Counsel John Durham’s report released last month blasting the agency for its handling of the Trump-Russia investigation.
He specifically wanted to press Wray about how his FBI us handling the Trump classified documents case compared to Biden’s case.
I want to know ‘why the bureau really handled what was going on with Biden with kid gloves,’ including ‘extensive meetings with lawyers’ before they conducted a search of the sitting president’s residences.
That comes in contrast to the ‘sirens blaring, guns drawn’ when it came to the FBI’s August 2022 raid of Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago.
‘And so justify and explain to me this duel treatment,’ he said.
Waltz is also part of a the House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans who are urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to release a ‘dissenting cable’ from the disastrous 2021 pullout of Afghanistan.
‘I said the same thing with the Afghanistan investigation. Why are we having to threaten to hold the Secretary of State in contempt if it was an outstanding success. Release the documents.’
Blinken has agreed to allow committee members to read the document in a secure facility at the State Department, but is not allowing it to be made public.
Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is still mulling contempt of Congress charges against Blinken if he doesn’t comply with the full subpoena.
