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Second Batch of US President Biden’s Classified Documents Found

A source mentioned that the search for other additional government records since November has been exhaustive, but did not disclose whether it was over.   

January 12, 2023
Second Batch of US President Biden’s Classified Documents Found
									    
IMAGE SOURCE: DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES
US President Joe Biden speaking with reporters in Mexico City.

US President Joe Biden’s lawyers found a second batch of classified documents at a new location, a source revealed on Wednesday.

Where and when they discovered the second set of documents remains unclear. The source, however, mentioned that the search for additional government records since November has been exhaustive, but did not disclose whether it was over.   

This information follows Biden’s legal team finding a stash of classified materials from his vice presidency between 2009 and 2017 at a private office in the Penn Biden Centre for Diplomacy and Global Engagement on 2 November.

Reportedly, Attorney General Merrick Garland had asked Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch, a Trump nominee, to review the matter after the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) passed it to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The Presidential Records Act makes it essential for presidents and vice presidents to give the documents to NARA after their tenure.

REPUBLICANS CALL FOR SPECIAL COUNSEL

Though White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the discovery, citing the ongoing DOJ review, Rapid Response Director of the Republican National Committee Tommy Pigott wrote in an email, “It’s clear that Biden’s staff have no idea how many classified documents are in Biden’s former offices and are desperately looking for them.”

In this regard, similar to how Special Counsel Jack Smith was hired for former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case, Republican Senator and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called on Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate the matter, warning that otherwise “it will hurt the country.”

CONTENTS OF THE FIRST CLASSIFIED BATCH

A source told CNN that the first bunch of 10 secret dossiers contained American intelligence memos and briefings on Ukraine, Iran, and the UK from 2013 to 2016.

When asked about these recent discoveries, Biden told reporters on Tuesday that he was “surprised” and unaware of the documents’ contents.

The source went on to reveal that Attorney Lausch has already briefed Attorney General Garland multiple times and finished the initial review of the documents. Lausch is not expected to perform any further “fact gathering.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer announced in a letter to the White House counsel on Tuesday that the panel was conducting an investigation, raising concern that Biden may have “compromised sources and methods with his own mishandling of classified documents.”

REACTIONS

As per three congressional staffers, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) requested Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines for access to the sensitive material, damage assessment by the intelligence community, and a debrief on both the Biden and Trump documents.