Classified documents were discovered in the home and office of President Joe Biden from his time as vice president. The discovery of these documents has spawned a special counsel in order to investigate their handling by Biden at that time.
The first batch of documents was initially discovered on Nov. 2, 2022. Discovered by President Joe Biden’s legal team in a closet previously used at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., they were then reported to the National Archives, which then alerted the Department of Justice according to The New York Times.
Since the discovery of the first batch, three more were uncovered on Dec. 20, 2022, Jan. 12, and Jan. 14, 2023, in both Washington D.C., and Delaware.
“The documents are believed to date from the Obama era, when Biden was Vice-President,” reported Isaac Chotiner of The New Yorker.
Further documents were found in President Biden’s Delaware home, the news surfacing only hours after The White House publicly acknowledged the documents that were initially found. Attorney General Merrick Garland has created a special counsel to oversee the investigation, which began on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.
The president’s legal team has defended their decision to be tight-lipped about the documents and forthcoming investigation. According to a statement from Bob Bauer, the president’s lawyer, the president’s legal team has tried to balance being transparent with “the established norms and limitations necessary to protect the investigation’s integrity.”
With several classified documents being found as early as November 2022, The White House has also been receiving criticism for its public statements and for not revealing that several more documents had been found.
This marks the second current investigation into the mishandling of confidential documents, as similar documents were found in former President Donald Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. The former president has criticized President Biden, citing unfair treatment in how his case was handled in comparison.
The Review will continue to report as the case develops.
