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Classified documents from Biden's vice presidency found at think tank

Published 01/09/2023, 06:08 PM
Updated 01/10/2023, 06:23 PM
© Reuters. U.S. President Joe Biden meets his Mexican counterpart Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at an official welcoming ceremony before taking part in the North American Leaders' Summit at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico January 9, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Rome

© Reuters. U.S. President Joe Biden meets his Mexican counterpart Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at an official welcoming ceremony before taking part in the North American Leaders' Summit at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico January 9, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Rome

(This Jan. 9 story has been refiled to fix the spelling of "name" to "named" in paragraph 4)

By Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Classified documents from Joe Biden's vice-presidential days were discovered in November by the U.S. president's personal attorneys at a Washington think tank, a White House lawyer said on Monday.

Nearly 10 documents were found at Biden's office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, CBS News reported earlier, adding that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland had asked the U.S. attorney in Chicago to review the classified documents which were handed over to the National Archives.

The classified material was identified by personal attorneys for Biden on Nov. 2, days before the midterm elections, Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said in a statement on Monday.

The Penn Biden Center is named for Biden, who periodically used the office space from mid-2017 until the start of his 2020 presidential campaign. The White House Counsel's Office notified the National Archives on the day of the discovery of those documents, Sauber said, adding the National Archives took possession of the material on the following morning.

Sauber also said the documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the National Archives.

The documents were discovered when Biden's personal attorneys "were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C.," Sauber said. He added the White House was cooperating with the Justice Department and the National Archives.

The Justice Department, the National Archives and the think tank did not respond to a request for comment. Biden was vice president under former President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

Sauber's statement did not mention the number of classified documents, what they contained or their level of classification. CBS News reported that they did not contain nuclear secrets.

Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, said in a statement that Biden's attorneys "appear to have taken immediate and proper action" after finding the documents. Raskin said he had confidence Garland will "make an impartial decision about any further action that may be needed."

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at Felipe Angeles International Airport on the outskirts of Mexico City to attend the North American Leaders' Summit, in Santa Lucia, Mexico January 8, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Romero

The Justice Department is separately probing former President Donald Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents that he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021. FBI agents carried out a court-approved search on Aug. 8 of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. About 100 documents marked as classified were among thousands of records seized.

"When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform late on Monday.

Latest comments

Wow. I'm surprised CNN broke this story. Of course the discovery happened before November elections, and is just released now.
proves that cnn are fair and objective, unlike all the right wing propaganda outlets
 funny how it wasn't a big deal when their Orange Messiah hid 100 classified documents in his home, but when Biden left 10 classified documents in an office he used all of the sudden it's a national security issue
Consistent principles don't motivate the knuckledraggers.
I know it is against the law to defy a subpoena for documents, which does not appear to have happened here. If any other laws were broken, justice should be applied. No man is above the law.
And, Hillary Clinton is not a man.
 Hillary was cleared by Trump's DOJ and State Dept, if you are really interested in facts
 "Oh how Hunter has skated so far with daddy's DOJ." -- funny how Trump's DOJ didn't bother to bring any charges to prosecute Hunter if he was so guilty???
the difference with the 2 presidents: one is honest , the other a fraud, corrupt loser! what a stark difference!
Some claim over $100 million to U Penn from China.
 so $54m donations from China went to University of Pennsylvania?  wow, that's so much worse than Trump having  a secret chinese bank account and lied about it.....
 "Some claim over $100 million to U Penn from China."  -- yeah, let's say $10 billions, still irrelevant since the money went to UPenn instead of Joe Biden.....
Trump wants the FBI to raid the White House to look for classified documents. What a genius.
"When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform late on Monday.   --- the Orange Messiah wants FBI to raid the White House, seriously, you can't make this up.........and Biden is supposed to be the confused old guy?
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