Jan 17, 2023 - Politics & Policy

McConnell calls on special counsels to treat Biden and Trump docs "exactly the same way"

Sareen Habeshian

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is pictured at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 21, 2022. Photo: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday urged the Department of Justice's special counsels to treat President Biden and former President Trump equally during the investigations into their possession of classified documents.

The big picture: McConnell, who has publicly feuded with Trump for years, appeared to join GOP lawmakers seeking to draw parallels between the Biden classified documents revelations and the investigation into the Trump classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago — even as key distinctions remain.

What he's saying: "I think the important thing with regard to documents is that both these guys ought to be treated exactly the same way. Exactly the same way," McConnell said on Kentucky’s NewsRadio 840 WHAS.

"So I think the attorney general probably did the right thing by having two special counsels," he added.
"What’s good for one candidate for president ought to be good for another one."

Context: Attorney General Merrick Garland last week appointed Robert Hur as special counsel to lead the investigation into classified documents found at Biden's former office and his Delaware home.

Last year, Garland assigned veteran prosecutor Jack Smith to investigate Trump's handling of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Zoom out: The revelation into Biden's classified documents has fueled the GOP's vow to launch investigations into the president.

Go deeper... How Biden and Trump's classified doc discoveries have differed

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McConnell calls on special counsels to treat Biden and Trump docs "exactly the same way"

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