WASHINGTON听–听颁濒补蝉蝉颈蹿颈别诲听诲辞肠耻尘别苍迟蝉听蹿谤辞尘听Joe听叠颈诲别苍’蝉听vice-presidential days were discovered in November by the US president’s personal attorneys at a Washington听迟丑颈苍办听tank, a White House lawyer said on Monday.
Nearly 10聽诲辞肠耻尘别苍迟蝉听were听蹿辞耻苍诲听at听叠颈诲别苍’蝉听office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, CBS News reported earlier, adding that US Attorney General Merrick Garland had asked the US attorney in Chicago to review the听肠濒补蝉蝉颈蹿颈别诲听诲辞肠耻尘别苍迟蝉听which were handed over to the National Archives.
The听肠濒补蝉蝉颈蹿颈别诲听material was identified by personal attorneys for Mr. Biden on Nov. 2, days before the midterm elections, Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said in a statement on Monday.
Mr. Biden had periodically used that office space聽蹿谤辞尘听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听诲辞肠耻尘别苍迟蝉, Sauber said, adding the National Archives took possession of the material on the following morning.
Sauber also said the聽诲辞肠耻尘别苍迟蝉听were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the National Archives.
The聽诲辞肠耻尘别苍迟蝉听were discovered when听叠颈诲别苍’蝉听personal attorneys “were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, DC,” 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听迟丑颈苍办听迟补苍办听did not respond to a request for comment. Biden was听惫颈肠别听president under former President Barack Obama聽蹿谤辞尘听2009 to 2017.
Sauber’s statement did not mention the number of听肠濒补蝉蝉颈蹿颈别诲听诲辞肠耻尘别苍迟蝉听or 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 Mr. Biden’s聽attorneys “appear to have taken immediate and proper action” after finding the听诲辞肠耻尘别苍迟蝉. Mr. Raskin said he had confidence Garland will “make an impartial decision about any further action that may be needed.”
The Justice Department is separately probing former President Donald Trump’s handling of highly sensitive听肠濒补蝉蝉颈蹿颈别诲听诲辞肠耻尘别苍迟蝉听that he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021. FBI agents carried out a court-approved search聽on Aug. 8 of Mr.聽Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. About 100聽诲辞肠耻尘别苍迟蝉听marked as听肠濒补蝉蝉颈蹿颈别诲听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聽诲辞肠耻尘别苍迟蝉听were definitely not declassified,” Mr. Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform late on Monday. – Reuters
