Five classified documents have been found in Biden’s residence in Delaware and he now faces an investigation from the DOJ.
There have been multiple instances of classified documents found in President Joe Biden’s Delaware home and Washington, D.C. office. Most recently, five more pages were announced on Saturday to have been found in his place of residence on Jan. 12. Biden now faces a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation led by former Justice Department official Robert Hurr, who was appointed to lead this probe by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Jan. 12.
This initial investigation by the DOJ was caused by an announcement from the White House that classified documents had been found at Biden’s personal office a week before the midterm elections in November. So far, reports are that Biden and his lawyers have been cooperative with the DOJ and Hurr.
Originally, documents were found in Biden’s office and they were discovered in a locked closet just before the midterm elections as Biden moved offices. They were promptly turned over to the National Archives, as required by law. Then, on Nov. 4, the DOJ was informed of the discovery and appointed an attorney to oversee the assessment of the materials. Again, on Dec. 20, more documents were found, reported and submitted. Most recently, on Jan. 11, Biden’s attorney found another document at Biden’s home and turned it over to the government.
The review was deemed closed after this supposed final document was handed over and everything appeared to have been turned in, but then on Thursday, Jan. 12, five more pages were found in Biden’s home by Richard Sauber, a White House lawyer; officials are working to hand them over and the investigation is reopened.
The White House lawyers are confident that the DOJ investigation and Hurr review will prove that the documents were “inadvertently misplaced, and the president and his lawyers acted promptly upon the discovery of this mistake,” Sauber said in a statement.
Biden is making claims that these documents were misplaced accidentally and is planning to cooperate with officials and the DOJ as the investigations and reviews are underway. The White House says that Biden does not know the contents of the documents found in his home.
While the White House may be cooperating, they are not very open with what is happening currently with the documents to the public. According to Biden’s personal attorneys, they are working to be as transparent as possible, but still maintain the investigation’s integrity by revealing to the public information on a need-to-know basis.
Bob Bauer made a statement to CNBC, saying, “adhering to this process means that any disclosure regarding documents cannot be conclusive until the government has conducted its inquiry, including taking possession of any documents and reviewing any surrounding material for further review and context.”
Because they are classified documents, no one knows exactly what they contain, the only information news sources have been provided with is that these documents predate Biden’s term as president and are from when he was the vice president under former President Barack Obama.
Due to the reason for the investigation, critics have begun calling Biden a hypocrite. The newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is claiming that there is a double standard between Biden’s treatment during this investigation and the Mar-a-Lago raid of former President Donald Trump’s residence where nearly 200 classified documents were found.
There are some key differences between this search and Trump’s. Biden has been willingly handing over documents to the National Archives as they are found and is cooperating with authorities to answer their questions, whereas Trump ignored the requests from the National Archives for the documents and resisted investigation.
The investigation will be an ongoing one and information will be released as it is learned.