»More secret materials were discovered at Biden’s house, according to the White House«
Attorneys for Vice President Joe Biden discovered more secret documents at his residence in Wilmington, Delaware, than was previously reported, the White House admitted in a statement released on Saturday.
During a check of Mr. Biden’s private library, six pages of secret materials were discovered, according to a statement by Richard Sauber, a lawyer for the White House. The White House had previously stated that only one document was discovered.
In addition to the documents discovered in December in Mr. Biden’s garage and in November in his former offices at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, this latest disclosure pertains to his time as vice president. Former U.S. attorney Robert Hur is investigating the possible mishandling of sensitive information and official records by the Obama administration. Hur was named as a special counsel on Thursday by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
After discovering the first page on Wednesday evening, Mr. Biden’s personal attorneys, who lacked security clearances, ceased their investigation, according to a statement released by Sauber on Saturday. Thursday, while helping the Department of Justice’s collection of the other materials, Sauber uncovered the remaining items.
Five additional pages with classification markings were discovered while handing it to the DOJ officers who accompanied me, bringing the total number of pages with classification markings to six. The DOJ personnel accompanying me seized instant hold of them.
Sauber earlier stated that the White House was “confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the president and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake.”
He reaffirmed on Saturday that the White House would assist in the probe of Hur.
Before bringing criminal charges in cases involving the mishandling of classified material, the Justice Department has generally imposed a high legal threshold, requiring intent to break the law as opposed to mere carelessness or negligence. It is a violation of the fundamental statute controlling the illegal removal and retention of classified documents to “knowingly” remove and keep classified documents in an unauthorized manner.
So far as is known, the circumstances surrounding Mr. Biden differ from a separate inquiry into the mishandling of confidential materials at the private club and estate of former President Donald Trump in Florida.
In the instance of Donald Trump, special counsel Jack Smith is probing whether anyone attempted to hinder their inquiry into the retention of secret documents at the Palm Beach home. According to Justice Department officials, Trump’s representatives did not fully comply with a subpoena requesting the handover of classified documents, causing investigators to return to the residence with a search warrant to retrieve additional materials.
»More secret materials were discovered at Biden’s house, according to the White House«