Biden’s classified data on UK under review
Justice department orders review of sensitive files found in ‘locked closet’ at presidential think tank
Prosecutors are investigating a stash of sensitive intelligence documents, including some concerning Britain, that were found in Joe Biden’s former office from his time as Barack Obama’s vice-president. A Chicago-based attorney has been assigned to review the papers discovered at the Penn Biden Centre for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington DC. The disclosure that Mr Biden potentially mishandled classified records could be a headache for the 80-year-old.
PROSECUTORS are investigating a stash of sensitive intelligence documents, including some concerning Britain, found in Joe Biden’s former office.
The US justice department has assigned John Lausch Jnr, Chicagobased US attorney, to review the papers that were found at the Penn Biden Centre for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington DC.
Ten memos and briefing materials discovered in the offices of Mr Biden’s think tank date from 2013 and 2016 – when he was Barack Obama’s vice president – and cover topics including Ukraine, Iran and the UK, CNN reported.
The files were discovered when Mr Biden’s lawyer opened an envelope that indicated a box contained personal files and saw that there were classified documents inside. The next day Mr Biden’s legal team sent the files to the National Archives, which referred the matter to the justice department because of their sensitive “top secret” nature.
Under the Presidential Records Act, all documents from a president’s administration must be turned over to the National Archives – that includes the vice president.
The documents were discovered in a “locked closet” on Nov 2 last year – six days before the midterm elections – but the matter only became public knowledge on Monday.
The White House said it was “cooperating” with the inquiry but did not explain why it waited more than two months to announce the discovery of the sensitive documents.
The revelation that Mr Biden potentially mishandled classified or presidential records could prove to be a political headache for the 80-year-old.
He previously said Donald Trump was “irresponsible” to keep hundreds of records from his term in office at his private club in Florida.
The justice department has been investigating Mr Trump after the FBI seized hundreds of records marked as sensitive or classified at his Mar-a-lago resort in August.
Republican Party figures were quick to seize on the reports about Mr Biden’s cache of documents. “When the home of a former president of the United States was raided by FBI agents, I was deeply troubled by that action at the time. And this double standard is just as troubling,” Mike Pence, Mr Trump’s vice-president, told a radio station.
Republicans yesterday requested that the FBI conduct a “damage assessment”. Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee said that Mr Biden’s retention of the documents put him in “potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act”.
Mr Trump weighed in on his social media site, asking, “When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?”
John Fishwick Jnr, a leading prosecutor under Mr Obama, last night suggested the matter should be turned over to a special counsel as was the case with the Trump investigation. “To keep the confidence of the country, you need to be transparent and timely,” he said.