Trump posts outdated photo in attack on Biden, Justice Department
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on June 21, 2023 at 17:16
- 4 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"Biden sitting outside with Lisa Monaco, second in charge of the DOJ, probably working on future Plots and Schemes against Republicans," Trump said in a June 19, 2023 Truth Social post sharing the image.
Screenshots of Trump's message -- and similar posts parroting the claim -- cropped up on Twitter and other platforms.
They spread nearly a week after the former president pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal counts related to his retention of classified documents. Trump has claimed the case is politically motivated to thwart his run to retake the presidency in 2024.
But the picture in Trump's post is not recent -- a reverse image search shows Pete Souza, the White House photographer during the Obama administration, captured it more than 10 years ago.
At the time, Biden was Obama's vice president. Monaco, now the US deputy attorney general, was Obama's homeland security and counterterrorism adviser -- a position she held from 2013 to 2017, according to her Justice Department bio (archived here).
And Trump was working in business and reality television, having yet to enter politics.
"Vice President Joe Biden talks with Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, in the Rose Garden at the White House, May 1, 2013," the photo's original caption says.
In a June 20, 2023 Instagram post featuring a similar image (archived here), Souza blasted Trump for "misusing" his photo.
"Shame on Donald Trump for using a photo I made to try and justify yet another one of his lies," Souza said, demanding an apology.
He added: "This photo occurred after the president’s morning intelligence briefing. The VP and Lisa are sitting outside the Outer Oval Office at the edge of the Rose Garden (note that no trees have yet been cut down)."
The Senate confirmed Monaco to her Justice Department position in April 2021 (archived here).
AFP contacted the Trump campaign for comment, but no response was forthcoming.
Special counsel leading Trump probe
The Justice Department under longstanding custom is independent from the White House -- and the appointment of a special counsel adds an additional layer of separation from political appointees.
Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 named Jack Smith as special counsel to lead the investigation into Trump's handling of government secrets. Smith's appointment came months after an FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in the US state of Florida turned up classified documents from his term in the White House.
Biden has repeatedly declined to comment on the proceedings against Trump. He said soon after Trump's indictment that he had no contact with Garland, and the White House said the president had "no advance knowledge" of the charges.
Shortly before Trump said June 8 on Truth Social that he had been indicted, a reporter asked Biden during a press conference (archived here) what he would say to "convince" Americans that the Justice Department was operating independently and fairly.
"I have never once -- not one single time -- suggested to the Justice Department what they should do or not do, relative to bringing a charge or not bringing a charge," Biden said. "I'm honest."
AFP contacted the White House and Justice Department for comment, but no responses were forthcoming.
AFP has previously fact-checked other misleading claims from Trump about the classified documents case here and here.
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