Several classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president under Barack Obama have been discovered in a private office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Biden had used an office at the center from 2017 until his campaign for the presidency in 2020 began.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has assigned Chicago-based U.S. Attorney John Lausch to assess the materials and to ascertain what, if any, breaches that Biden may have made concerning the documents.
According to reports, the classified documents were found on November 2, just before last year’s midterm elections took place.
Biden’s Special Counsel Richard Sauber stated that “a small number of documents with classified markings” were discovered as Biden attorneys were clearing out the office that Biden was using at the Penn Biden Center. According to Sauber, those attorneys immediately notified the White House Counsel’s office, which in turn notified the National Archives and Records Administration. The National Archives took custody of the documents shortly after.
According to media accounts, some of the documents were said to have included top-secret information with the SCI or “sensitive compartmented information,” which is used for information gleaned by intelligence sources.
“The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden Administration records, including a small number of documents with classified markings,” Sauber said. “The documents were discovered when the President’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. The President periodically used this space from mid-2017 until the start of the 2020 campaign. On the day of this discovery, November 2, 2022, the White House Counsel’s Office notified the National Archives. The Archives took possession of the materials the following morning.”
According to Sauber, the classified documents are no big deal, and Biden is cooperating fully with all ongoing investigations.
“The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the Archives. Since that discovery, the President’s personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives,” Sauber claimed.
Recall that in August, the FBI showed up in massive numbers to sort through former President Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Now that Joe Biden has proven untrustworthy with classified documents, can we expect a raid at his Delaware mansion, his Rehoboth Beach summer getaway, or any of his other homes?
Trump is wondering the same thing, posting on his Truth Social account: “When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified.”
Donald Trump, Jr. was perhaps even more vexed than his father, tweeting, “We were told for months that this was treasonous… grounds for impeachment… & meriting the death penalty, yet I have a feeling nothing will happen!?”
Others besides the Trump family were searching for answers as well. Representative James Comer (R-Ky.), the new GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee, spoke to reporters on Monday night.
“Is the White House going to be raided tonight? Are they going to raid the Bidens?” Comer asked. “This is further concern that there’s a two-tier justice system within the DOJ with how they treat Republicans versus Democrats, certainly how they treat the former president versus the current president.”
As the president was attending a summit in Mexico City on Monday evening, he ignored shouted questions about the documents. CNN quoted a “senior administration official” who said that the revelation won’t affect any current plans. Ironically — or perhaps not — AG Garland was seated with the president at the summit.
“Nothing has changed in his schedule,” the official reportedly said. “He’s focused on the summit and meeting with our closest neighbors.”
Former President Trump was pilloried for weeks by a vengeful media because the FBI raided his home and supposedly found some classified materials in his private home under lock and key — Materials that Trump had offered to return, yet the Justice Department still thought a raid on his private residence was necessary
Biden, on the other hand, apparently left classified documents in a university office for years after he had ceased using the office. Who at the university had access to that office? Did everyone — be it administrator or janitor — at that office have a security clearance? Why was this information withheld from the public until now? Why were the Biden attorneys sent to clear out the office?
A report from Lausch, who was appointed by Trump, is expected to come fairly soon, but no specific dates have yet been given.
