S. President Joe Biden said he is “completely cooperating” after the White House announced Thursday that “a limited number” of secret documents were discovered at his private residence, triggering calls for a congressional investigation into the alleged mishandling of government files.
As investigators looked into a much greater controversy involving his predecessor Donald Trump, Biden may have made an unfortunate finding.
The Obama-Biden administration records were discovered at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, after other records of a similar nature were discovered at a think tank in Washington, DC, where Biden once worked.
After leaving the White House in 2021, former President Trump accumulated an enormous amount of paperwork at his Florida home, which the FBI eventually carted away after executing a search order in August.
Trump might be charged for obstructing the legal system.
For a president who prides himself on having high moral standards, the finding of documents at Biden’s home is politically hard, and it may also make the Trump investigation more difficult.
People are aware that I take sensitive information seriously, Biden told reporters on Thursday.
“We are completely and totally complying with the Justice Department’s investigation. My attorneys evaluated other locations where records from my tenure as vice president were kept as part of that process, and they ended the review last night.
“They discovered a modest number of documents with classified markings in storage locations and filing cabinets in my house and personal library.
“The Department of Justice was immediately notified… So we’re going see all this unfold,” he said, declining to answer press inquiries that were shouted at him.
Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the Republican-controlled House, insisted that “Congress has to investigate this,” referring to the Justice Department’s inquiry of Trump.
When will the FBI search Joe Biden’s numerous residences, possibly even the White House, asked Trump earlier on his social media platform Truth Social.
According to Biden’s team, if any errors were found in his official documents, the administration took immediate action to correct them.
The National Archives, which is in charge of all such papers, was given the initial batch of documents after they were found at Biden’s former office at the Penn Biden Center think tank last November, according to the White House counsel’s office.
Biden’s lawyers then scoured potential locations for any other stray documents.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has designated a federal prosecutor from Chicago hired under the Trump administration to examine the misplaced Biden records in an effort to allay claims of political meddling.
Compared to Trump, who repeatedly resisted attempts by authorities to find missing documents, this approach stands out sharply. As a result, the FBI had to enter Trump’s residence with a search warrant.
ALSO READ: US capitol riots case: Donald Trump says charges ‘fake’, bid to block his 2024 run
