President Joe Biden has state that he was shocke to discover secret documents at his former private office in November.
He stated, “I don’t know what’s in the records,” adding that his attorneys had told him not to inquire about the information.
Reports claim that the papers found at the Penn Biden Center in Washington contain briefings on various nations.
A Republican-led congressional committee promises to look into the matter.
According to James Comer, the chairman of the oversight group, “there are concerns that President Biden has compromised [intelligence] sources.”
The topic is also being look at by the US justice department.
The White House has been ask by Mr. Comer, who represents a Kentucky district, to provide its records and correspondence about the classified files.
In its request, it also requests a list of those who had access to the office space by January 24, which is not a formal summons.
Mr. Biden told reporters on Tuesday that he was “cooperating completely with the inquiry” while attending a meeting in Mexico City.
According to his attorney, the records are relevant to his time serving as vice president, but it’s unknown how sensitive they are or why they were kept there.
CNN says that the 10 secret files contain US intelligence notes and briefing materials covering subjects like Ukraine, Iran, and the United Kingdom, citing a source with knowledge of the situation.
According to CNN, they were discovered in a manila folder marked “personal” in a private office he used from 2017 to 2020 as it was being cleaned up by one of his lawyers.
According to a reference who is familiar with the situation, the batch did not contain nuclear secrets, according to CBS News, a US partner of the BBC.
Days before the US midterm elections, on November 2, 2016, I discovered the documents in a locked closet.
According to reports, officials are looking into the possibility that Mr. Biden is connect to any further sensitive documents in other locations.
Taking sensitive materials to his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, after winning the presidency, Mr. Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, is the subject of a separate investigation by the justice department.
The president has been charge with hypocrisy by Republicans, who recently seized control of the US House of Representatives and have vowed to look into the Biden administration.
When asked about the records found at Mar-a-Lago during an appearance on CBS in September, President Biden responded, “Totally irresponsible.”
However, there are significant distinctions between Mr. Biden’s circumstances and Mr. Trump’s.
Over 300 documents with classified markings, including 18 pages classed as top secret, are the subject of Mr. Trump’s investigation.
Said the federal prosecutors, Mr. Trump’s legal team failed to cooperate sufficiently with the National Archives to return the records appropriately, which led to a historical FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago resort in August.
Over 300 documents with classified markings, including 18 pages classed as top secret, are the subject of Mr. Trump’s investigation.
According to the White House, the National Archives soon recovered the records, and the organization obtained the materials the following morning.
According to CBS News, the FBI to reportedly involved in the investigation, and US Attorney General Merrick Garland has to request to evaluate the documents.
On his social media platform Truth Social, Mr. Trump has been discussing the issue.
In a post on Tuesday, he questioned why the “Justice” Department hadn’t released the highly classified documents discovered in the Biden office before the election.
In another post, he stated: “A Vice President cannot Declassify Documents. A President, myself, may Declassify.”
The National Archives and the Penn Biden Center did not respond right away.