Following the initial finding of classified documents at President Joe Biden's former think tank office in Washington this past fall, the legal team for the former vice president discovered an additional trove of classified government records.
When the classified files were found at his previous office in November, only a select group of advisers and attorneys at the White House were aware of the situation. An effort was made to look through additional places where records from Biden's time as vice president might have been kept.
After Biden's attorneys discovered the first batch of classified documents in early November, searches for other records were conducted, according to NBC News.
CNN previously reported that the first batch uncovered by Biden's personal attorneys when moving files at his former private office contained 10 classified documents, including US intelligence information and briefing memos about Ukraine, Iran, and the United Kingdom.
Classified records are supposed to be kept in safe places. And, under the Presidential Records Act, when an administration ends, White House records are intended to be transferred to the National Archives.
At this moment, it is unknown how many documents were in the second batch or what the records were about. It's also unknown where the new batch of materials was discovered.
Prior to new revelations about the second batch of government files on Wednesday, the White House failed to answer a number of important questions regarding the classified documents discovered inside Biden's private office last autumn, claiming an ongoing Department of Justice probe.
The documents were discovered on November 2, just six days before the midterm elections, but the president's counsel only publicly confirmed the finding of the documents on Monday, after news reports about the discovery surfaced.
The government files were discovered while closing down the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, DC. According to a source familiar with the situation, the items seized include 10 secret documents, including US intelligence memoranda and briefing materials on issues such as Ukraine, Iran, and the United Kingdom.
Biden said on Tuesday that he had no idea some classified documents had been taken to his private office after he left the vice presidency, and that his attorneys "did what they should have done" by contacting the National Archives and Records Administration as soon as the documents were discovered in November.
The records, the president stated, were located in "a box, locked cabinet - or at least a closet."
Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, refused to address several questions concerning the documents, citing the Justice Department's ongoing investigation. She was unable to explain who brought the documents into the office or whether additional documents were discovered.
When asked if the way the situation has unfolded has undermined the president's long-standing public commitment to transparency, Jean-Pierre answered:
"When his lawyers realized that these documents were there, they turned them over to the Archives. They did the right thing."
