The Justice Department was informed Thursday morning by President Joe Biden’s personal lawyer about a third classified document discovery.
This discovery was made at Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware residence. It follows two other classified batches that Biden used during his vice-presidential days. These were revealed by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday.
Garland stated during a press conference, “This morning, President Joe Biden’s personal counsel called [the DOJ]” and said that an additional document with classified markings had been identified at the president’s Wilmington, Delaware, personal residence.”
Garland made the disclosure at a press conference, where he announced that Robert Hur was to be his special counsel and lead an investigation into whether Biden mishandled classified information. He didn’t give any further details about the nature of the document.
At least three different classified documents have been discovered so far. The first was discovered by a Biden lawyer on November 2, 2017. He was cleaning out a closet from the president’s former office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. This think tank is focused on foreign policy. According to White House counsel Richard Sauber, Biden used the space “periodically” from mid-2017 to the beginning of the 2020 campaign.
An envelope containing approximately 10 documents was flagged by the lawyers. The documents had classified markings and contained intelligence about Iran, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. CNN reported. Also included was “sensitive compartmented data.” After a media report, the White House made public this discovery earlier in the week.
Biden’s team began a sweep at the president’s Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach homes after the initial discovery. While the Rehoboth Beach search did not yield any additional material, the Wilmington hunt led to the discovery of another batch of documents. Garland says that Biden’s team notified the DOJ about the finding Dec. 20, but it wasn’t known to the public until Wednesday.
Sauber claimed that the search Biden’s group initiated on Wednesday evening was over.
Biden insists that he is “cooperating fully with federal investigators.” Biden previously criticized former President Donald Trump for being embroiled in a classified document scandal. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was seized last year with over 300 documents containing classified markings. Trump has reacted to Biden’s latest controversy.
In accordance with the Presidential Records Keeping Act, vice presidents and presidents must surrender White House material to National Archives and Records Administration.
