Classified Documents Found in Joe Biden's Former Office as US Vice President Being Reviewed by DOJ
A series of classified documents involving U.S. President Joe Biden during his days as the vice president of the United States has resurfaced. The president's attorneys have acknowledged the matter.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped the U.S. attorney in Chicago, John Lausch, to launch a probe regarding the classified documents, according to a source.
It was not immediately clear what the documents are about and why they were taken to Biden's private office.
The classified documents were found in November while the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a Washington, D.C.-based office the president used when he was an honorary professor with the University of Pennsylvania, was closing out.
Richard Sauber, special counsel to President Biden, noted that the documents' discovery was made by the president's lawyers.
Nearly 10 documents were found at the Washington, D.C. office. These were then handed over to the National Archives.
Sauber said that the White House is currently cooperating with the National Archives and Justice Department.
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Joe Biden Classified Documents
President Joe Biden recently became aware of the existence of the documents when his lawyer reported the said materials to the White House counsel's office in November.
One source noted that the president is unaware of the contents of the classified documents. But that the classified materials did not contain any nuclear secrets.
The classified documents were "housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space" in Washington, D.C., according to Sauber.
The Justice Department, National Archives, and the think tank have yet to comment on the matter.
Donald Trump Comments on 'Biden Classified Documents' Issue
Former U.S. President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social social media platform to comment on the recently discovered classified documents.
Trump said on his post that the documents found "were definitely not declassified," then asked when the Federal Bureau of Investigation will raid the "many homes of Joe Biden."
The Justice Department is currently investigating Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents that he retained at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida after he left the White House in January 2021.
The FBI then raided Trump's Florida residence in August and seized around 100 classified documents.
Classified Documents Probe
Sauber said that the Biden classified documents were voluntarily turned over to the officials. Meanwhile, Trump was pressed to return the materials to the National Archives.
Trump's lawyers handed over 38 classified documents when the former president was issued a subpoena to do so. However, an FBI seizure found more than 100 classified documents that were not returned to the authorities.
Sauber said in a statement that the classified documents from Biden's vice president days were not under any "previous request or inquiry by the Archives," adding that the president's lawyers have since cooperated with the Justice Department and Archives to ensure that the records from Biden's vice presidency during Barack Obama's administration are "appropriately in the possession of the Archives."
A source familiar with the matter said that the difference between Trump's and Biden's case is the "voluntary notification" and "number of documents."
The person added that although that may be the differences, both cases of classified documents "went somewhere it shouldn't have."
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Mary Webber
WATCH: BREAKING: DOJ reviewing potentially classified documents at Biden center, White House says - from ABC7 Chicago
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