A new set of classified documents have been discovered by the aides to US President Joe Biden at a second location, adding to the White House’s mounting political embarrassment. 2nd batch of classified Biden documents found at another location.
The first cache was discovered at Mr Biden’s post-vice-presidential private office in Washington, D.C. The US Department of Justice is investigating the situation. There is a criminal investigation into Donald Trump for allegedly handling classified documents improperly.
On Wednesday, it remained unclear when or where Biden’s staff discovered the extra batch of documents.
Only this week has the first batch of roughly 10 documents been made public after it was found in November at the Penn Biden Center, a think tank close to the White House. These documents apparently contain US intelligence memos and briefing materials about the UK, Iran, and Ukraine.
Regarding the recently found batch, the White House has not yet made any remarks. Earlier on Wednesday, during her regular press conference, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to respond to inquiries concerning the initial cache of documents.
“This is under review by the Department of Justice,” she said. “I’m not going to go beyond what the president shared yesterday.”
2nd batch of classified Biden documents ware found at another location and Mr. Biden said on Tuesday he was “surprised” by the discovery of the files and was “cooperating” with the justice department’s review.
The controversy comes as the Democratic president faces scrutiny from a new Republican majority in the US House of Representatives.
“Now that Democrats no longer have one-party rule in Washington, oversight and accountability are coming,” James Comer, the new chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on Wednesday.
The committee is looking into the president and his family, and part of that investigation will involve asking the White House to provide records and correspondence pertaining to the classified files.
The US National Archives must receive all White House records, including those that are secret, once an administration has left office.
When Mr. Biden’s predecessor’s Florida residence was investigated by FBI agents in August of last year, they found over 10,000 documents that Mr. Trump had neglected to give to the National Archives.
Before the FBI arrived at Mar-a-Lago, the justice department had issued a demand for the return of the secret documents.
Federal authorities seized more than 300 documents with classified markings from the Palm Beach golf club, including 18 with the top secret designation.
The secret documents were found at the think tank, according to the White House, and Mr. Biden’s attorneys immediately notified the National Archives. The agency then picked up the documents the next day.
How classified documents cases involving Biden and Trump differ
