President Joe Biden’s aides have reportedly found a second batch of classified documents, distinct from the first tranche, that was discovered last fall.
Since flagging classified documents from his vice presidential days discovered at a think tank, Biden’s aides have been searching for any other outstanding classified files and made a second discovery, but it is unclear where and when the documents were found, NBC reported.
CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS AT BIDEN THINK TANK FEATURED MATERIAL ON IRAN, UK, AND UKRAINE: REPORT
“This is an ongoing process, and I’m just going to be prudent here,” White press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing Wednesday after being asked about additional searches for files. “It would be more appropriate for my colleagues at the White House Counsel’s Office to address this.”
A source was mum about the precise nature of the second trove of documents — only confirming its existence, per NBC.
Biden was rocked this week by revelations that his lawyers discovered roughly 10 documents with classified markings in the closet of his private office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington last November. Some of the documents reportedly included “sensitive compartmented information.”
Upon the initial discovery, Biden’s team apprised the National Archives and Records Administration and turned over additional private material featuring information such as Beau Biden’s funeral arrangements, sources told CNN.
Biden has insisted that he’s “cooperating fully,” and Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, underscored that the initial batch did not stem from any “previous request or inquiry.” Material in the first trove featured intelligence on Iran, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom dated from 2013 to 2016. It was discovered on Nov. 2, roughly six days before the midterm elections, CNN reported.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch, a Trump administration holdover, has been reportedly tapped to examine the matter and investigate how the classified material wound up at the Biden-aligned think tank.
Biden reportedly used the office space periodically from 2017 until the start of his 2020 campaign. He used it during his honorary professorship at the University of Pennsylvania, which is affiliated with the think tank.
Presidents and vice presidents are required to relinquish presidential documents to the National Archives at the end of administrations in keeping with the Presidential Records Act.
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Republicans have fumed over the initial discovery. Former President Donald Trump mocked Biden and accused the government of waging “a giant scam” investigation against himself — Trump is facing Justice Department scrutiny for a myriad of documents discovered at his Mar-a-Lago estate last year, including roughly 300 with classified markings.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and is adamant that he declassified the material and that a president can declassify documents just by “thinking of it.” Special counsel Jack Smith is spearheading the Mar-a-Lago inquiry against Trump. He’s also involved with investigations into the Jan. 6 riot and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
