Biden May Get Off Easy for Mishandling Secret Docs Once Media Falls in Line, Experts Predict

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - President Joe Biden is unlikely to face any serious consequences for mishandling classified government records because the US mainstream media will eventually back the White House narrative, experts told Sputnik.

Biden's lawyers found a second batch of classified documents from his vice presidency, and at a new location, US media reported on Wednesday, a day after the president said he was "surprised" when briefed about the first set of records discovered in his private office.

Among the first batch of documents, now under Justice Department review, are classified materials related to Ukraine and Iran, among other security issues, media reported.

The findings have drawn comparisons to the discovery of classified documents at former President Donald Trump's Florida home after an FBI raid in August. Trump said he wondered when US authorities would raid Biden's home while a MAGA spokesperson called for a special counsel.

The US media so far has been quick to underscore differences between the two cases, saying Biden freely handed over the documents, for starters, while Trump refused repeated government requests.

George Mason University Scalia Law School professor Francis Buckley said there would be little or no negative consequences for Biden. "The press will line up behind Biden and the Justice Department will stay quiet," Buckley said.

Nevertheless, the controversy might complicate the issue of pursuing a probe into Trump's alleged mishandling of classified official documents, Buckley acknowledged.

University of Illinois Professor of Law Francis Boyle also indicated nothing would come out of the discoveries, and even suggested the stories are meant to distract the public from the conflict in Ukraine and the pandemic.

Meanwhile, so far, little has been said or reported about the seriousness of the violations and potential security risks.

Southwestern University Law School Professor Rachel VanLandingham said the level of seriousness depends on the facts of each instance - ranging from noncriminal carelessness to Trump's "seemingly criminal acts," of obstructing the return of classified material.

"Given that range an investigation by the Department of Justice is appropriate," she said.

Biden's lawyers found the documents while clearing his office at the Penn Center, a Washington-based think tank, in November. White House special counsel said they immediately contacted the US National Archives who forwarded the information to the Justice Department. A US federal prosecutor has been assigned to review the classified materials.