Written by: Chiara Espinal
Edited by: Michael Shalonov
On Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022, President Biden’s lawyers uncovered classified documents from the leader's term as Vice President in an office located at the Penn Biden Center. A full-blown investigation into the discovery of classified materials in Biden’s personal office space has since been launched, creating additional controversy surrounding the White Houses’ handling of sensitive documents. According to NBC News, Biden’s lawyers reportedly notified the Justice Department and the National Archives. Shortly after, the initial discovery was made. Biden has evidently remained cooperative as search efforts persist and no search warrants have been issued at this time.
Both Biden’s personal attorneys and White House representatives have remained tight-lipped about the probe into Biden’s possession of classified documents. CBS News has since reported that Biden’s residence in Wilmington, Delaware was searched at the start of January after the President’s lawyers provided access to Biden’s home to aid the investigation. Investigators uncovered six additional documents with “classified markings” during the search. The investigation has caused two Republican-led committees in the House of Representatives to further examine Biden’s handling of classified documents. Attorney General Merrick Garland has also appointed a “special counsel” to spearhead the federal government’s efforts to shed light on Biden’s handling of classified documents.
The allegations against Biden inarguably come at a sensitive time for White House officials in the aftermath of the ongoing investigation into former President Donald Trump’s possession of classified documents at Florida residence, thus creating additional controversy surrounding the mishandling of sensitive records. In the summer of 2022, a search warrant of Trump’s private property yielded a staggering one hundred classified documents. By the end of last year, additional documents were seized from a Florida storage unit owned by Trump just a few miles away from his Palm Beach resort.
Democrat members of the Senate and House of Representatives have expressed concerns surrounding Biden’s mismanagement of classified documents. According to Politico, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), commented that Biden “should have a lot of regrets” for his actions. On Monday, January 30th, the Justice Department told the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee that it “cannot comply with his (Manchin) requests for access to information related to the federal investigation” into Biden’s “retention of classified documents from his time as vice president (CBS News).
In a letter to Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote that department procedures surrounding ongoing investigations prohibit it from further disclosure. "The Department's longstanding policy is to maintain the confidentiality of such information regarding open matters," Urirate wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by CBS News. According to Urirate, the disclosure of “non-public information about ongoing investigations could violate statutory requirements or court orders,” which would in turn interfere with the Justice Department’s ability to appropriately conduct the investigation. Until the investigation comes to head, it is unclear when additional information will be released.
The FBI has reportedly conducted two “consensual searches of the University of Delaware as part of the Justice Department’s probe into the handling of documents with classified marking” (CBS News) from Joe Biden’s term as vice president. According to the article published on Thursday, February 16th, the University of Delaware – President Biden’s alma mater – houses a collection of Biden’s senatorial documents and records. CBS News made an unsuccessful attempt at reaching the curator of the collection as recently as Wednesday, February 15th. Spokespeople for both the University of Delaware and the White House have declined to comment, along with a representative of Biden’s personal legal team. All inquiries have since been referred to the Justice Department, which has also declined to comment on the situation at this time.
[The views expressed in this article are those of the author and the author alone; they do not necessarily represent the views of all members of the RULR Editorial Board and Rutgers University]
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