US President Joe Biden at a welcome ceremony, Mexico City, Mexico, January 9, 2023 (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty)

UPDATE, FEB 4:

I again spoke with UK and international outlets this week about the ongoing non-story of US President Joe Biden and classified documents.

The latest interviews were sparked by the FBI’s search of Biden’s beach home in Delaware — arranged with the President’s lawyers — which found no classified material. That meant dramatic headlines on Wednesday, when the search was announced, and the disappearance of the story by Thursday.

In conversation with China Radio International, I talk about the politics around the story and its real significance — undermining Biden and diverting from the negligent, possible criminal, actions of Donald Trump and his inner circle.

When you’re in trouble, you shout “Hey, Over There!”

And unfortunately, a lot of US and international media have fallen for it and have made Biden rather than Trump the headline story.

Listen to Discussion from 45:15

UPDATE 1933 GMT:

I spoke further with Monocle 24’s Emma Nelson about the significance — or lack of significance — of the discovery of a small number of classified documents at two locations connected with President Joe Biden.

I again make the point about a Trumpist diversion as they try to distract from the serious security breach — and possible crimes — of Donald Trump’s theft of documents from the White House.

Biden and his lawyers are following the rules of the system — necessary when errors are made.

In Trump’s case, he and his inner circle did not follow the rules of the system.

That’s the essential difference.

But a lot of media outlets are falling for the Trumpist exaggerations and not calling out the politics behind them.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: A small number of classified documents have been found at two locations linked to President Joe Biden.

Trumpists, exerting their power in the new House, are magnifying the story in an attempt to cover up Donald Trump’s security breach in stealing hundreds of classified documents — including top secret material — and keeping it at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

I spoke with China Radio International on Wednesday, before the revelation of the second Biden-linked location. I cut through the spin to the facts, explaining why the Biden case is not comparable with Trump’s theft, deception, cover-up, and stonewalling in the courts.

Listen to Discussion From 34:14