Joe Biden’s handling of sensitive and, in some cases, classified information is coming under increased scrutiny following the disclosure that the FBI discovered additional classified documents during a Friday search of the president’s personal house in Delaware.
The president is participating with the Department of Justice and special counsel inquiry, Biden’s attorney emphasised in a statement on Saturday evening. He also claimed that the search of his Wilmington, Delaware, home was voluntary.
In a statement, the FBI described it as planned and consenting. The search, however, is raising new concerns about White House transparency on the matter that Biden last week argued is unimportant and which the president’s legal team did not disclose for a full day.
In Biden’s private offices, more than a dozen top-secret documents were found. Just before the midterm elections last year, a first batch of documents were found at the Biden Penn Center. The White House did not announce their presence. The materials were made public by CBS in January, which led to a congressional investigation.
The White House reported that a later search of Biden’s beach house yielded no further documents.
Attorneys for Biden, however, discovered six pages of top-secret documents at his Wilmington home. Additionally, the DOJ’s additional search of Biden’s house on Friday turned up at least six more documents. According to Bob Bauer, an attorney for Biden, some handwritten notes from his time as as vice president were also stolen.
“It seems like they’re uncovering more documents every day.” Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul on CNN’s State of the Union. “Even though the search was authorised, it was really carried out by the FBI, not his attorneys. That intensifies the investigation significantly.
On NBC’s Meet the Press, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., stated, “I think he should have a lot of regrets.” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Conn., said on ABC’s This Week that the search of Vice President Biden’s house was voluntary and noted that “there is one essential document that divides former President Trump from President Biden, and that’s a warrant.”
On Fox News Sunday Morning Futures, Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, stated, “When Joe Biden claims he has no regrets, I mean, this is really concerning here.” Who got access to those records is something we need to know.
Why did he possess them? On CBS’ Face the Nation, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, asked, “Who did he show these to?The Justice Department acknowledged late Saturday that the FBI searched Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware residence “planned, consensually” for most of the day and night on Friday. The White House reports that the search took place from early morning until 10:30 at night, but Biden wasn’t present. He is spending the weekend at his Delaware home near Rehoboth Beach.
An official stated that no court-authorized procedure, including an approved search warrant at Biden’s house, was used to conduct the search.
Democrats like former House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff have supported the appointment of a special counsel to handle the case even though they do not see the circumstance, which is noticeably different from the DOJ’s criminal investigation into Trump, as being harmful to Biden’s long-term reelection prospects. As the document drama developed, Biden’s approval rating had been rising and he was receiving more support from independent voters and non-voters. As Biden gets ready to deliver his State of the Union speech in early February and maybe declare his candidature for reelection, fresh discoveries in the document issue might erode his support.
A Quinnipiac University poll found that 60% of Americans believe the president handled his documents inappropriately and that two-thirds of Americans are paying attention to media coverage, despite the president’s claims that “there’s nothing there” and the “American people don’t quite understand” the ongoing focus on his documents.