Rep. Kevin Kiley, left, accused ex-Special Counsel Robert Hur, right, of implying President Biden did not need to be charged partially because deterrence of future leaders mishandling classified documents can be achieved by the prosecution of former President Trump. (Getty Images)
Kiley argued during the hearing, "The perverse implication here is that the administration, by the very terms of your analysis, actually made it less likely that the president would face charges by [Special Counsel Jack Smith] bringing an indictment [against Trump]."
"I’ll stand by the way and the specific terms in which I characterize my assessment of deterrence value of a case under the principles of federal prosecution," Hur told him just minutes earlier.
Kiley stood by his argument in a brief interview with Fox News Digital on Tuesday afternoon, explaining, "It's the implication that is perverse, because it means that Biden sort of lowered his chances of facing charges when the administration brought charges against former President Trump."
Trump has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges stemming from Smith’s federal investigation into alleged election interference. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review whether Trump has presidential immunity from prosecution in the case.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump was charged over mishandling classified documents by Special Counsel Jack Smith. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
"The finding seems inherently in conflict with the acknowledgment that Joe Biden continued to remove classified material over 40 years since he was a senator," Turley said. "There was no evidence of deterrence despite repeated warnings given to him by counsel and staff. If anything, that record shows a certain habitual violation of well-known rules on the handling of classified material."
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Hur found that Biden did willfully mishandle classified materials but did not recommend charges, citing, in part, that he came off "as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," and that "it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department but did not immediately hear back.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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