Biden classified docs case could be 'significant' game-changer in Trump legal battle: Intel expert
Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe told Fox News he believes Special Counsel Robert Hur's decision to not press charges against Biden could impact Trump.
Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe speculated Sunday that Special Counsel Robert Hur's decision not to recommend criminal charges against President Biden could have "significant legal impacts" on similar charges former President Trump faces in Florida.
"I think that this is actually going to have a significant legal impact beyond the public's perception of a two-tiered system of justice, an actual impact on the same case and the same charges against Donald Trump," Ratcliffe told "Sunday Morning Futures" host Maria Bartiromo.
"If I'm the federal judge down in Florida, looking at this… I'm thinking, ‘Why is this case even in my court?’
NO CHARGES FOR BIDEN AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBE INTO IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS
"And the next time special Counsel Jack Smith shows up in my courtroom, my question for him would be, 'I've got a 300-page report from another special counsel, from the same Biden Justice Department who says that the target in that case, Mr. Biden himself, committed every element of every crime that's set forth in here, but the Department of Justice says we're not going to charge him, yet here you are in my courtroom saying that it's a matter of national interest that we not only move forward with these charges, but that we absolutely do so before the November election. It just doesn't jive."
Hur's 388-page report was unveiled last week after a months-long criminal investigation into the president's alleged improper retention of classified documents containing national security and foreign policy information.
The report stated that "no criminal charges" were warranted in the matter, adding, "We would reach the same conclusion even if the Department of Justice policy did not foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president."
The special counsel additionally referred to Biden as a "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
Ratcliffe argued Sunday that the "compos mentis" defense – or the claim that Biden is too "mentally infirmed" to stand trial – creates a "catch 22."
"If he's too mentally infirm to stand trial, then, how is he not too mentally infirm to run the country?" he asked. "So I think that that's going to cause political damage from now until Election Day for Joe Biden."
Republicans similarly seized on the descriptions after the report's release last Thursday, insisting Biden is unfit to remain in office.
Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio were among them.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.