Biden Aides Discover Another Batch of Classified Documents from His Time as VP
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File
Another tranche of classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president has been discovered by his aides, NBC News reported Wednesday afternoon.
The initial report broke Monday that classified documents had been found in one of Biden’s private offices, sparking debate among political commentators seeking to compare or contrast these documents to those seized by the FBI from former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Which angle various commentators took largely depended on the individual’s political leanings, but Karl Rove was among those who remarked on multiple key ways that the Trump documents situation was worse, leading to an angry response from Trump himself.
It’s been a highly contentious issue for Biden, especially in light of his criticism of his predecessor, and this latest revelation seems likely to increase the controversy.
NBC News reported that Biden aides “have discovered at least one additional batch of classified documents in a location separate from the Washington office he used after leaving the Obama administration,” citing as a source “a person familiar with the matter.”
The discovery of the original documents with classified markings in a office formerly used by Biden resulted in his aides launching a search for “any additional classified materials that might be in other locations he used,” according to NBC News, resulting in these newly found documents:
The classification level, number and precise location of the additional documents was not immediately clear. It also was not immediately clear when the additional documents were discovered and if the search for any other classified materials Biden may have from the Obama administration is complete.
Biden aides have been sifting through documents stored at locations beyond his former Washington office to determine if there are any other classified documents that need to be turned over to the National Archives and reviewed by the Justice Department, the person familiar with the matter said.
The search was described as exhaustive, with the goal of getting a full accounting of all classified documents that may have inadvertently been packed in boxes when Biden cleared out of the vice president’s office space in January 2017.
This is a breaking story and may be updated.
