A top House Republican broke from his GOP colleagues on Sunday by saying the charges against former President Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort after leaving office are serious.
Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, labeled the allegations “of grave concern,” as his fellow House Republicans say the case is a politicization of the Justice Department.
Mr. Turner also said he has “grave concerns” about classified documents found among President Biden’s personal possessions from his time as vice president.
“I can tell you from having looked at both of those documents, I have grave concerns about both of those type of documents being out in an unsecured place,” Mr. Turner said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Both of them included details of national security issues that should not have been outside of a controlled environment.”
Mr. Turner has received briefings on the contents of the documents held by Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden. He said the burden is on the federal government to prove Mr. Trump is guilty of the 37 charges against him for willful retention of classified materials and obstruction of justice.
“I’m certainly not going to defend the behavior that is listed in that complaint, but they’re going to have to prove it,” Mr. Turner said. “It’s a legal process that’s going to have to go forward.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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