# Should Trump be found guilty on docs case, does Jack Smith have any recourse if she gives him no prison time?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-trump-be-found-guilty-on-docs-case-does-jack-smith-have-any-recourse-if-she-gives-him-no-prison-time/985638>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Tags:** trump\
**Created:** [June 16, 2023, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-trump-be-found-guilty-on-docs-case-does-jack-smith-have-any-recourse-if-she-gives-him-no-prison-time/985638 "2023-06-16T17:20:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 22

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**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-trump-be-found-guilty-on-docs-case-does-jack-smith-have-any-recourse-if-she-gives-him-no-prison-time/985638/22 "2023-06-18T17:16:17Z")

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> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Has Biden done this after he was no longer in office? There is a massive difference between a current President having classified information, which is part of his job, and a former President holding classified information, which he has no business doing.

Of course he had them after he was out of office. They date back to his days as a Senator, and he was out of office for four years during the Trump years. Joe Biden was casually removing classified documents and taking them home for years, maybe decades. He only ‘cooperated’ when they were discovered. He is still under investigation by a special prosecutor for this, btw.

As far as I can tell, Bill Clinton did not take home classified documents. But his Chief of Staff Sandy Berger was caught with documents from a secure facility tucked into his pants. He was charged and convicted, but got a slap,on the wrist for what seems to me to be the worst document violation of all, as it shows clear intent to surreptisiously remove classified documents.

This is not to minimize what Trump did. He is unique in that he continued to play games with the documents and obstruct justice. He deserves to be convicted of a felony and should never be president again. But years in jail given the precedents would be crazy.

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