In “Exclusive” Interview, Baier Claims Biden Turned Over Classified Documents

by Sharon Rondeau

(Jun. 19, 2023) — In an interview broadcast Monday evening between Fox News anchor Bret Baier and 45th President Donald J. Trump in the wake of his “indictment” for holding “classified documents” leading to a Miami court appearance last Tuesday, Trump argued that Joe Biden withheld 1,850 boxes of such documents, transferring them to a Boston attorney while maintaining others in his garage, former Penn Biden Center office and other places, including “Chinatown” in Washington, DC.

In response, Baier argued Biden “turned over” classified documents, implying in their entirety. He also pointed out that “an investigation” is taking place on Biden’s documents issue and “We’ll see where it goes.”

The claim as to classified materials kept in “Chinatown” has been confirmed by some reporting, while most mainstream outlets have contradicted it. In February, just after Biden was reported to have classified documents in his possession, USA Today reported that documents were discovered in three places, including Penn Biden and one of Biden’s homes. As for the “1,850 boxes,” the outlet wrote, “Biden donated more than 1,850 boxes of archival records from his tenure in the Senate to the University of Delaware, his alma mater, in 2012, according to the university. The collection includes public records, speeches, position papers and other items, according to The New York Times.“

However, three days later The New York Post reported:

Emails released Friday by the National Archives reveal references to President Biden’s lawyers handing over boxes of documents in Boston — confirming a little-known detail in the chronology of Biden’s classified documents scandal.

“Please ensure that the boxes in your office in Boston remain secure in a locked space and are not accessed by anyone,” National Archives official Gary Stern wrote on Nov. 7 to Biden attorneys Patrick Moore and Bob Bauer.

The email was sent five days after Biden’s lawyers say they discovered classified documents at Biden’s post-vice presidency office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington.

Speaking of the 31 felony counts brought by the Justice Department against Trump, Baier quoted frequently from the indictment, which claims the existence of a recording in which Trump allegedly shared a “classified” document with someone not authorized to see it.

Trump denied the conversation took place, saying there were “evil people” working against him. When Trump continued to make the point about Biden’s classified documents, Baier said, “I don’t want to dwell on it” and changed the subject.

Aired during Baier’s customary 6:00 p.m. news hour but prerecorded, Baier posed the possibility to Trump that voters who supported him before can no longer take “the vitriol” he apparently associates with the former president, stressing that he “lost” the 2020 election.

Trump disagreed, stating, as he has since November 4, 2020, that he won the election, to which Baier pushed back by arguing “there were recounts in all of the swing states…There were lawsuits, more than 50 of them in front of judges you appointed.”

Regarding post-election probes Baier claimed showed “less than 475” cases of alleged voter fraud across the country, Trump said investigators “didn’t look” at the evidence.

He made a reference to TruetheVote.org, mistakenly calling it “Truth the Vote,” a non-profit which co-produced the film “2000 Mules” claiming widespread fraud after obtaining cellphone data purportedly showing individuals visiting outside drop boxes multiple times to deposit illegally-cast ballots.

In regard to the federal charges he faces, “the document hoax,” Trump said, “should never have been brought…This stuff shouldn’t happen, Bret.”

Speaking of the media, Trump told Baier, “I’m no fan of Fox anymore.” Earlier, he told Baier that “not as many” people watch the channel as in years past, to which Baier said, “But they do watch.”

Asking Trump about his touting of his ability to recruit “the best people” for the second term he is seeking, Baier rattled off a lengthy list of former administration members who have taken adversarial positions against him, to include Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Vice President Mike Pence; CIA Director/State Department Secretary Mike Pompeo; Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney; Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany; Attorney General William P. Barr; adviser Steve Cortes, who is now supporting DeSantis; and others.

As for Cortes, Trump said, “I didn’t give him the job he wanted.”

During the remainder of the interview portion broadcast Monday, Baier asked numerous questions on foreign policy, with Trump defending his previous relationships with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin and effectiveness on the world stage.