Jeanine Pirro Gets Fact-Checked After Claiming Trump Wasn’t Charged With Obstruction In Classified Docs Case

Fox News host Jeanine Pirro is getting grilled on social media for falsely arguing that Donald Trump hasn’t been charged with obstruction in his classified documents case – one of four criminal cases against the former President. Let’s take a look at what she said, and why she couldn’t be more wrong.

What Did Jeanine Pirro Say?

Pirro, along with the four other hosts of The Five, were discussing Robert Hur’s congressional testimony and how Democrats were arguing that Trump obstructed with justice in his classified documents case, while Biden cooperated with the DOJ in his own classified documents case.

“The Democrats spent the whole day saying ‘Donald Trump obstructed.’ Well, news flash, Donald Trump was not charged with obstructing,” Pirro said. The truth? Trump was, in fact, charged with one felony count of obstruction in that case – and several other such counts in a separate criminal case.

Pirro Believes Biden Should’ve Been Charged

Pirro didn’t stop there – further arguing that obstruction wasn’t the ‘issue at hand.’ Instead, she believes both Hillary Clintron and Joe Biden should’ve been charged with obstruction – yet finds it odd that Trump was the only one of the three to face charges.

“Obstruction is not the issue. And in the end, there are three people: Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump. And ironically, the only person charged was Donald Trump, and yet he was the only person who had the right to declassify as president,” she said on The Five.

Donald Trump’s Classified Documents Case

Alright, let’s backtrack for a second. In 2022, the DOJ opened an investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents following his presidency. While he initially refuted the claim, the FBI ended up finding more than 100 classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence.

Not only did he (along with two of his aides, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira) obstruct the government’s attempts to retrieve the documents, but he showed at least two people some of the documents, including one that wasn’t declassified before he left office.

Facing 40 Felony Counts in Florida – Including Obstruction

On June 9, 2023, special counsel Jack Smith unsealed an indictment – revealing 37 felony charges against Trump and six felony counts against Nauta. A majority of those felonies (32, to be exact) were in violation of the Espionage Act.

On July 27, 2023, a revised indictment added three counts for Trump (40 total) and two counts for Nauta (eight toal). Six of Trump’s charges were for obstruction. Smith also added a third defendent to the indictment, charging De Oliveira with four felonies for his role in the crime.

Trump Charged With Obstruction In Election Interference Case

There’s also the Federal Election Interference case against Trump, which details his role in the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election (in which he lost to Biden) – as well as his role in citing the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.

That case, also led by Jack Smith, resulted in four additional felony charges – two of which were for obstructing an official proceeding. While Pirro says Trump wasn’t charged with obstruction, he’s actually facing a total of eight felonies for obstruction across two separate criminal cases.

Facing 88 Felony Counts In Four Different States

And that’s not all. In addition to his 44 felonies in the classified documents case and federal election interference case, Trump is facing another 44 felonies in two other criminal cases.

He’s facing 10 felony counts in the Georgia Election Interference case, which was tied to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state of Georgia. The other 34 counts are from his Hush Money case, which is tied to his affair with pornstar Stormy Daniels.

Joe Biden’s Classified Documents Case

Okay, now that we’ve covered Trump’s charges, let’s examine Joe Biden’s case – and the lack of charges. Between November 2022 and February 2023, the FBI found various sets of documents – some of which were deemed to have potential classification markings.

The documents were found at the Penn Biden Center (at the University of Pennsylvania), the garage, home office, and private library of his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and his home in Rehoboth Beach. They were from his time in the Senate, as well as his time as Vice President.

Robert Hur Chooses Not To Charge Biden

That’s when Robert Hur comes into the picture. He was the special counsel who oversaw the investigation into Biden’s classified documents case – like Jack Smith was for Trump’s case. After a year-long investigation, Hur decided not to charge Biden.

In his report, released on February 5, Hur wrote, ‘No criminal charges are warranted in this matter … even if there was no policy against charging a sitting president.’ This was a stark difference from Trump’s investigation, which resulted in 40 felony charges.

Hur Criticizes Biden For Having ‘Poor Memory’

While Hur didn’t recommend any charges, he did (indirectly) criticize Biden for his poor memory and age. He concluded that many jurors would view Biden as an elderly man with a poor memory – as opposed to someone who intentionally did wrong.

“Biden would likely present himself to a jury … as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” he wrote in the report. Many people took this as a sly, but that’s not exactly what Hur meant by it.

Biden Struggled to Remember When His Son Died

A transcript of Hur’s interview with Biden was released this week, and there was one moment that stuck out in regard to his poor memory – and it has to do with his son, Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015.

He was asked about a time period after his vice presidency in 2017 and 2018 – during that time period, Biden recalled his son either being ‘deployed or dying,’ even though he had died several years prior to that time period. Hur made note of this, which is where his memory comment came from.

Clarifies His Comments During Recent Testimony

When Hur mentioned Biden’s age and memory, he wasn’t saying it was his belief – but rather what others would believe if he were to stand trial. He clarified this during a recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

He was asked repeatedly about his comments but defended his wordage time and again. “That conclusion does not appear in my report, congressman,” he said on numerous occasions – clarifying that his detail of Biden’s memory gaps was a matter of how the jury would view him.

Pirro Gets Fact-Checked After False Argument

That brings us to Jeanine Pirro’s comments while hosting The Five a few days ago. Not only was she wrong about Trump being charged with obstruction, but viewers (especially Democratic voters) let her know it on social media.

Then again, many people weren’t surprised by her comments – as she is known for spreading lies and misinformation often. For example, she was one of the Fox News hosts who made false claims of election fraud during the 2020 United States presidential election.

Democrats Give Trump The ‘Old Man’ Treatment

During Hur’s testimony, Democrats played a clip of Trump stumbling over his words and having a hard time recalling things – the same thing Republicans are criticizing Biden for.

It’s an interesting stance for Republicans to take, considering Donald Trump is currently 77 years old – only four years younger than Joe Biden. In terms of cognitive ability, both candidates are well beyond their prime.