What Is The Classified Documents Saga Involving US President Joe Biden? This Is What We Know So Far
Joe Biden is not the first US President who is entangled in such a case. His predecessor Donald Trump is facing a criminal investigation after about 300 classified documents were found at his premises
New Delhi: Just as matters were looking bright and sunny for US President Joe Biden, the emergence of classified documents, first in November from a Washington-based think tank and then in December from his garage in his Delaware home, has given rise to a massive row within America’s internal politics that now seemed to have spiralled out of control. So far, all that the world has heard from Biden was that he was “surprised” and had no idea what the classified documents contained. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre has said the US President is looking at the matter “very seriously”.
“The President takes classified information, classified documents very seriously,” Jean-Pierre said at a White House press briefing earlier this week, adding that the matter is now being handled by the Department of Justice, and that the President's team is cooperating with them.
The White House Spokesperson also said: “He (President Biden) was surprised to learn any records had been found — found there. He doesn’t know what was in them … As soon as his lawyers realized these documents were there, they did the right thing and immediately turned them over to the Archives.”
According to latest developments, the case will now be investigated by a special counsel – Bob Bauer – who was former US President Barack Obama’s White House counsel.
This announcement came a day after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed former US attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate the storage of the documents, reported POLITICO.
How And When Were The Classified Documents Discovered?
On Saturday, the White House said additional documents were found at Biden’s Delaware home. All the classified documents that have been found so far were from the time when Biden was the Vice President of America.
It all began in November 2022, just before the US midterm elections were to take place. But this fact only came to light last week. What was first found was a bunch of classified documents that were locked up in a closet at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a Washington-based think tank, by his personal attorneys.
The documents, which contained 10 papers, were then handed over to the National Archives. They contained information about Ukraine, Iran and the UK, which were dated between 2013 and 2016, according to a report by CNN.
After the revelations came to light, Biden said he was “surprised to learn there were any government records that were taken there to that office”.
Thereafter, the second tranche was found in the garage of his Delaware home at Wilmington on December 20, which was also handed over to the National Archives.
“By the way, my Corvette’s in a locked garage … It’s not like they are sitting out on the street,” Biden said last Thursday.
The third stockpile was found once again at the US President’s Delaware home.
Biden’s legal team has said that they are following all “established norms and limitations necessary to protect the investigation’s integrity”.
Is Biden’s Case Different From That Of Trump?
In former US President Donald Trump’s case, about 300 classified documents had been unearthed. Trump is facing a criminal investigation.
The National Archives and Records Administration found about 15 boxes full of documents in January 2022 and in August FBI agents seized 33 boxes and containers containing about 11,000 documents from his Mar-a-Lago home, which included roughly 100 with classification markings found in a storage room and an office, according to a report by The Associated Press.
In terms of cooperation with the federal authorities, Trump held on to the documents until the FBI was compelled to conduct a raid, while Biden has handed them over to the National Archives.
The Biden administration also claims to be cooperating with the legal authorities.
Richard Sauber, one of Biden’s lawyers, said last week: “The President’s lawyers have acted immediately and voluntarily to provide the Penn Biden documents to the Archives and the Wilmington documents to DOJ … We have now publicly released specific details about the documents identified, how they were identified, and where they were found.”
US Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced the appointment of a special counsel to probe the issue of classified documents.
Meanwhile, in a statement, US Justice Department said the investigation would be carried out by former career justice department prosecutor and former US Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert Hur.
President Biden has, however, come under the ire of many.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said the US Congress should investigate President Joe Biden’s alleged mishandling of sensitive materials and compared it with the way Trump dealt with such an issue.
“Treating law differently based upon your beliefs … Treats one President Trump on one way but treats President Biden a whole different way,” McCarthy said, emphasising why the Congress has to investigate the matter.
Besides, the White House has also come under intense scrutiny and pressure as to why it took the Biden administration took months to reveal the documents.
Chris Carney, a former aide of Biden and intelligence officer, is reported to have said: "The timing of the revelation of the document discovery is indeed curious. President Biden must be accountable and accept responsibility for this awkward episode. The most important thing here is not preventing political embarrassment, it’s protecting our nation’s security.”
Bill Clinton NSA Had To Pay $10,000 Penalty
In the past, a similar case concerning classified documents came to light when former US President Bill Clinton’s National Security Advisor Samuel R. Berger pleaded guilty for removing top-secret materials from a government archive. Berger had to pay $10,000 as a penalty to the Department of Justice.
The process of classification of documents has been established by US presidents through a series of executive orders from the time of World War II and the Cold War era. The present directive was issued by ex-President Obama in 2009.
According to a New York Times report, it was under former President George Bush that an executive order was passed in March 2003 when vice-presidents were allowed to have access to classified documents concerning national security of the country.
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