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President Joe Biden admitted that a document marked as classified as his vice president was found in the “private library” of his Delaware home, along with other documents found in his garage.
Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House that he was “fully and thoroughly” working with the Justice Department to investigate how classified information and government records entered his home and offices at his former institute in Washington.
Mr. Biden did not say when the latest series of documents were discovered, saying only that his lawyers’ review of potential storage locations was completed on Wednesday night.
Lawyers found the first set on Nov. 2, days before the midterm elections, but did not publicly disclose the progress until Monday.
After Mr. Biden’s personal attorneys located the original documents, they examined other locations where Mr. Biden may have shipped records after he stepped down as vice president in 2017, the president’s special counsel, Richard Sauber, said.
Mr. Thorber said a “small number” of classified-marked documents were found in a storage room in Mr. Biden’s Wilmington garage, including one in an adjoining room.
The Justice Department was “immediately notified” after the documents were discovered, Mr. Sober said, and the department’s lawyers took custody of the records.
Regardless of Justice Department scrutiny, news that Mr. Biden may have mishandled classified or presidential records has proven to be a headache for the president, who said it was “inappropriate” for Donald Trump to keep hundreds of such records at his private club in Florida. responsible”.
Earlier this week, the White House confirmed that the department was reviewing a “small number of classified-marked documents” found at its Washington office.
The White House said Biden’s attorneys discovered the material at his offices at the Biden Center in Pennsylvania and immediately called the National Archives to inform them of the discovery.
Mr. Biden maintained an office there after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he began his Democratic presidential campaign in 2019.
Biden’s team uncovered more secrets hours after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged questions about Mr. Biden’s handling of classified information and the West Wing’s management of the found documents document.
She had said on Wednesday that the White House was committed to handling the matter “the right way,” noting that Mr. Biden’s personal attorney had immediately notified the National Archives.
But she declined to say when Biden himself was briefed, whether there were more classified documents that may be located in other unauthorized locations, or why the White House waited more than two months to disclose the discovery of the first batch of documents.
“As my colleagues in legal counsel said to all of you yesterday, this is an ongoing process under review by the Department of Justice. We will therefore limit what we can say here,” Ms. Jean-Pierre Say.
The Justice Department is reviewing records found at the Biden Center in Pennsylvania, and Attorney General Merrick Garland has asked U.S. Attorney John Rausch in Chicago to review the matter, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press this week.
The person was also not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and requested anonymity.
Mr. Lausch is one of the few U.S. attorneys in the Trump administration.
Mr. Biden has said he was “surprised that any government records were brought to that office” but that his lawyers “did what they were supposed to do” when they immediately called the National Archives.
The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee has asked intelligence agencies to conduct a “damage assessment” of potentially classified documents.
The disclosure could also complicate the Justice Department’s consideration of whether to bring charges against Trump. The Republican, who is trying to win back the White House in 2024, has repeatedly claimed that the department’s investigation into his own conduct constituted “corruption.”
There are significant differences in the Trump and Biden cases, including the seriousness of the ongoing Mar-a-Lago investigation by the grand jury.
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