Last Update: January 23, 2023, 08:23 AM IST
Washington, United States
At least 12 classified documents were found at various properties belonging to Joe Biden (Image: Reuters)
Biden dismisses all speculation saying investigators will find nothing there
US Justice Department officials found six more classified documents during a search of Joe Biden’s family home in Delaware this week, the president’s personal lawyer said in a statement on Saturday.
The new revelations mark another embarrassing turn for Biden as he prepares to announce whether he will run for another term in 2024.
Biden insists he did nothing wrong and downplays the situation as an innocent mistake.
Documents from his time as vice president and marked as classified were first turned up last year in an office at a Biden-affiliated think tank in Washington, and then at his home in Delaware. There are about a dozen documents in total.
After the second search, the White House offered the Justice Department a search of the Delaware home — the search was conducted on Friday and is now over, Biden attorney Bob Bauer said.
“The DOJ took possession of materials believed to be within the scope of its investigation, including six items containing documents containing classification markings and surrounding materials,” Bauer said.
The search lasted more than 12 hours and covered “all working, living and storage areas in the home,” Bauer said.
“The DOJ had full access to the President’s home, which included personally handwritten notes, files, papers, binders, memorabilia, to-do lists, schedules and reminders dating back decades,” he said.
According to Bauer, some of the new papers seized were from Biden’s time in the Senate and some from his tenure as vice president.
Bauer said that Biden’s personal lawyers and White House counsel had previously arranged to appear with the Justice Department during the inspection, and that they agreed not to publicize the search in advance “per its standard procedures”. .
The White House has said earlier batches of documents were handed over to the Justice Department and the National Archives, which handle presidential records, as soon as they were found.
two special counsel
Biden on Thursday dismissed the uproar over the discovery of old classified documents.
When asked by reporters during a visit to California about the issue, he said: “I think you will find nothing there.”
“I have no regrets. I’m doing what the lawyers told me they want me to do. That’s exactly what we’re doing. There’s nobody there.”
“We found some documents… misplaced files. We immediately handed them over to the Archives and the Department of Justice. We are cooperating fully and hope to resolve this at the earliest.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland earlier this month appointed a special counsel, former US Attorney Robert Hur, to act as special counsel for the investigation.
Garland said the “extraordinary circumstances” of an investigation into a sitting president required him to take the extra step of bringing in an outside prosecutor.
The finding, which first came to light earlier this month, saw Biden’s brand return to competence and integrity after scandal-ridden years of Donald Trump’s presidency and intense scrutiny from the media and Republicans in Congress .
Indeed, the scandal comes as a separate special prosecutor investigates a potentially far more serious matter involving Trump moving hundreds of documents from the White House to his Florida residence and the government’s efforts to bring them back. Perceived hindrance to efforts.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)