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Durbin An Embarrassment

Christine Blasey Ford testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool) — WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 27: U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) questions Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Wash... WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 27: U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) questions Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her during a party in 1982 when they were high school students in suburban Maryland. (Photo by Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images) MORE LESS

By Josh Marshall

January 22, 2023 12:24 p.m.

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Like more than a few Democrats, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) embarrassed himself this morning on the Biden documents case. He said President Biden is “diminished” by the situation. On Trump and Biden: “At its heart, the issue is the same. Those documents should not have been in the personal possession of either Joe Biden or Donald Trump,” he said. In each case, after whacking Biden around a bit, he went on to lamely distinguish between the two situations. Those distinctions, needless to say, will never be the headlines, never garner attention, never be what shapes news coverage. Manchin of course was worse, saying Biden “should have a lot of regrets” and questioning whether we know whether Biden’s or Trump’s actions are more egregious.

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