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Joe Biden on Monday refused to answer why classified documents had been found inside the offices of his Washington D.C. think tank in November – news that has only been made public now.
Biden was in Mexico City on Monday, for a meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
As the press was being ushered out of the meeting room, one reporter yelled out: ‘Mr President, any response to the discovery of classified documents?’
Biden, flanked by his Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the Attorney General Merrick Garland, did not respond to the question, which was shouted as a Mexican government official began thanking the visiting U.S. delegation.
Joe Biden looks down at his briefing files on Monday in Mexico City, as a reporter yells a question about the classified documents found in the Washington DC offices of his think tank. Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, looks up as the press pack is ushered out
Garland has asked the U.S. attorney in Chicago to review the 10 files discovered by Biden’s personal attorneys at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.
Biden has not yet commented on the news of the investigation into ten classified documents from his vice presidency, found in a Washington D.C. office for his think tank.
The White House special counsel said in a statement on Monday: ‘The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden admin records, including a small number of documents with classified markings.’
The documents were located in November, six days before the midterms.
It is unclear what the classified documents contain, but follows the raid on Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago resort last year and comes as Republicans begin their investigations into the Biden family.
James Comer, the Republican congressman currently serving as chairman of the Oversight Committee, said late on Monday he would send a letter to the White House and National Archives looking for answers.
The report stated that the documents were found while Biden’s attorneys were packing up the office to leave.
The files were said to be in a folder inside a locked closet in a box with other unclassified documents.
The CBS report states that Biden is unaware of the contents and there will now be a review how the documents got to the office a mile away from the White House.
The Department of Justice has launched an investigation to review classified documents from Joe Biden’s Vice Presidency found in a Washington D.C. office for his think tank
The Presidential Records Act requires all president and vice-presidential documents be handed over to the National Archives when the term in office ends, so they can be kept secure.
After the discovery, the White House counsel’s office then notified the National Archives, which then took possession of the documents on November 3.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch will now consider next steps, included whether a further investigation or a special counsel is needed.
Lausch is one of two U.S. Attorneys nominated by Trump. The other, Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss is in charge of the investigation into Hunter Biden.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch will now consider next steps, included whether a further investigation or a special counsel is needed. Lausch is one of two U.S. Attorneys nominated by Trump. The other, Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss is in charge of the investigation into Hunter Biden
Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, told CBS: ‘The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the Archives. Since that discovery, the President’s personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives’.
In September, Biden was asked on 60 Minutes about the photo showing documents recovered at Mar-a-Lago during the FBI raid last August.
‘How that could possibly happen? How anyone could be that irresponsible,’ the president said. ‘And it just — totally irresponsible’.
More than 300 classified documents were recovered from Trump’s Palm Beach estate.
Biden used the office in D.C. from 2017 until he announced he was running for president in 2019.
It also used to be the home of his cabinet officials and closest aides.
Blinken was the center’s Managing Director in 2018 while top White House aide Steve Richetti was managing director in 2019.
Biden is on leave from the University of Pennsylvania after he was named a Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor in 2017.
He has been paid $917,643 for speeches and for heading the center, CBS reported.
His granddaughter Naomi, his late son Beau and daughter Ashley all got degrees there and his granddaughter Natalie is an undergraduate.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has asked the U.S. attorney in Chicago to review 10 files discovered by Biden’s personal attorneys at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement the day before the midterms in November
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