ZWF: Turns out, Presidents aren't that great at handling classified documents
Zander's Weekend Facts #49: Sunday, January 15, 2023
Months after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago in an attempt to recover classified documents, it was discovered this week that President Biden had some documents of his own. But there are clear differences between the two circumstances.
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, a recap of everything we learned this week regarding classified documents, and a look at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts podcast! Episode 89 features a look into why the House Speaker vote took as long as it did, and why it matters to you. Zander also recaps the latest Berhalter/Reyna drama in U.S. Soccer, and explains what could happen next for the U.S. Men’s National Team. Go download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, January 15, 2023:
President Biden has some document troubles
Could we find a President that doesn’t have an issue handling classified documents, please?
The top headline of the week was the revelation that back in the fall, President Joe Biden’s lawyers found classified documents in Biden’s former Washington, D.C. office. Biden’s team immediately cooperated with the National Archives and turned over the documents.
But the news wouldn’t stop. Later this week, more classified documents were discovered in Biden’s home, including in his garage next to his prized Corvette, after Biden’s team went on the hunt to find any more potential documents that had improperly been taken from government offices.
Biden seemed spared legally and politically after the first notice of documents, due to the swift cooperation with the National Archives his team acknowledged. But after the secondary revelations of documents found at Biden’s home, Biden is now suddenly facing the largest political crisis of his almost three-year presidency.
So much so that Attorney General Merrick Garland deemed it appropriate to appoint a Special Counsel, former U.S. attorney Robert Hur, to investigate whether Biden himself had mishandled the documents.
Now, this might sound similar to another political scandal that engulfed another U.S. president last year.
Former President Donald Trump was also found to have classified, and some top-secret, documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence that came from the White House.
But rest assured, these two cases have sharp distinctions.
Even Karl Rove knows that, apparently.
CNN also made a graphic that went viral on social media this week explaining the differences between the two situations.
Obviously, it would be nice if we could just keep these documents where they are supposed to be. There are currently investigations going on in both matters, and let’s hope that one does not affect the other. (In fact, it is the first time that a sitting president and his immediate predecessor are under criminal investigation by DOJ at the same time.)
However, if not resolved soon, this could be a damper on President Biden and his approval, currently at its best mark since over one year ago, according to an aggregate from FiveThirtyEight.
For more information on this week’s top headline, check out this article from The New Yorker - The Origins of Joe Biden’s Document Mess
What Zander’s been reading this week
With the world turning towards electric vehicles (except Wyoming, for whatever reason), the United States Postal Service is keeping up with the times. Last year, the USPS announced that by 2026, all new purchases of mail trucks will be electric.
Check out this week’s featured article on NPR - The Postal Service pledges to move to an all-electric delivery fleet
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
U.S Debt Ceiling: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress this week that the federal government will reach its debt limit on Thursday. The debt limit is the amount of money that the government is able to borrow. Once the limit is reached, the government cannot borrow any more money, which could mean drastic cuts in government spending. However, Yellen said the Treasury Department will be able to take emergency measures to make sure the U.S. does not default on its debts, while Congress negotiates a deal to raise the limit.
Inflation Down in December: Inflation continued to fall in December from record highs back in the summer. Last month, the consumer price index fell 0.1% month-to-month, while increasing 6.5% from December 2021. The 6.5% increase is the smallest year-over-year increase in the CPI, a closely watched inflation gauge, since October 2021. Despite the downward trend on inflation, it is expected that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates, potentially to over 5%.
Brazil Coup Attempt: A far-right mob broke into Brazil’s government offices in the capital of Brasilia last Sunday. Supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro circled in on Brasilia in an attempt to bring Bolsonaro back to power after he lost last year’s presidential election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. After Lula was sworn in on January 1, Bolsonaro fled to Florida. Brazil’s Supreme Court has announced that Bolsonaro’s role in the attacks will be investigated.
New Russian Commander: Russian President Vladimir Putin has installed a new commander that will lead Russian forces in their invasion of Ukraine. Gen. Valery Gerasimov will replace Sergei Surovikin, whose three-month tenure was marked by Ukrainian victories and Russian withdrawals in key areas of the country. The move from Russia comes as Ukraine claims that Russia is planning a major offensive.
Nationwide Flight Chaos: Thousands of flights were impacted by a computer issue on Wednesday. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that a corrupted file impacted a system that provides safety information for pilots. The FAA was forced to ground all domestic flights for several hours Wednesday morning, causing further cancellations and delays throughout the day. The situation was the second major impact on flights in the last few weeks after many Southwest Airlines flights were impacted by technology failures over the Christmas holiday.
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top headlines from the sports world in the ZF Sporting Club:
NFL Playoffs - Wild Card Round: The NFL postseason kicks off this weekend with the Wild Card round. The games began yesterday, with the 49ers taking down the Seahawks 41-23, and the Jaguars coming back from 27 points down to beat the Chargers 31-30. In today’s action, the Dolphins face the Bills at 1:00 pm et on CBS and Paramount+, the Giants take on the Vikings at 4:30 pm et on Fox, and the Bengals host the Ravens at 8:15 pm et on NBC and Peacock. On Monday night, the Cowboys will visit the Buccaneers at 8:15 pm et on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN+. The Chiefs and Eagles clinched the top seeds in their conferences and don’t play until next week.
NBA Attendance Record: The all-time NBA attendance record for a single game was set on Friday night in San Antonio, Texas. 68,323 fans filled the Alamodome to watch the Golden State Warriors defeat the San Antonio Spurs 144-113. The Spurs were marking the 50th anniversary of the franchise by playing at the venue they once played their games from 1973 to 2002. Since the 2002-2003 season, the Spurs have played at the much smaller AT&T Center, with an average attendance of 17,905 fans so far this season.
U.S. Soccer Returns: After a round of 16 exit at last year’s World Cup, the United States Men’s National Team will return to action with two friendlies later this month. On Wednesday, January 25, the USMNT will face Serbia in Los Angeles, California, and Columbia on Saturday, January 28 from Carson, California. The matches will feature mostly players who did not play for the USMNT in the World Cup and will be managed by interim manager Anthony Hudson. The Women’s National Team returns to the pitch this week, with two friendly matches at New Zealand, a Women’s World Cup co-host, on Tuesday and Friday. The matches are the beginning of a new eight-year media rights contract for U.S. Soccer with Turner Sports. Three of the four matches mentioned will be the first live sporting events to air on HBO Max, while the U.S.-Columbia match will air on TNT.
Damar Hamlin: Buffalo Bills safety has been discharged from a Buffalo hospital and has been allowed to return home. Hamlin’s remarkable recovery comes just under two weeks after he had to be revived on the field during the Bills-Bengals Monday Night Football game. On Saturday, Hamlin was able to travel to the Bills practice facility to see his teammates in person for the first since the incident.
WWE Rumors: Vince McMahon has returned as executive chairman of the WWE, after retiring in July due to several sexual misconduct allegations. Stephanie McMahon, Vince’s daughter and co-CEO of WWE, resigned after Vince rejoined the company, leaving Nick Khan as the company’s sole CEO. With Vince’s return has come speculation that WWE could be sold, potentially as a merger with rival AEW, or to the Saudi Arabian government. WWE’s television contracts with Fox and NBC are set to be up in the near future, with negotiations likely happening soon.
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Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
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That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The Facts in print return next Sunday, January 22, 2023.
