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Biden confronted on why classified documents were found at his center

January 10, 2023 | | Print Article

President Biden pointedly ignored a question on Monday concerning classified documents being found at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C. in a private office that he used while vice president during the Obama administration.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

“Any response to the discovery of classified documents at your office?” a reporter asked Biden during a crowded meeting, according to Fox News. The president appeared to look down while ignoring the question and refusing to answer.

Of note is that the documents were found before the midterm elections on Nov. 2 by Biden’s attorneys. The White House is contending that it was a “small number of documents with classified markings.” The National Archives were notified and took possession of the documents the next day.

It’s interesting that they did not come to light until after the elections and that the media is now spinning it as entirely different than former President Trump having documents seized from his residence at Mar-a-Lago. It is being reported that Biden turned the documents over voluntarily while Trump did not. That does not explain why it took six years to find them or the delay in turning the documents over. It also shows a dual standard in the way that Biden is treated versus the former president on the issue. Trump also voluntarily turned over documents and was working with the DOJ at the time of the raid.

“The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the Archives,” White House special counsel Richard Sauber said in a statement, attempting to conduct damage control. “Since that discovery, the President’s personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives.”

(Video Credit: CBS Chicago)

CNN host Jake Tapper asked reporter Evan Perez about the findings.

“These were documents the White House says that were found by the current president’s attorneys in November as they were closing out an office that the former vice president, Biden, of course, had set up an office with the University of Pennsylvania at the Penn Biden center here in Washington,” he responded.

“They were closing out these offices when they found what they say were fewer than a dozen documents that were labeled as classified. Now, a number of these documents were also subject to the presidential records act, and according to the White House, these were now turned over to the National Archives, which has asked the Justice Department to look into it,” Perez added.

(Video Credit: CNN)

Attorney General Merrick Garland has assigned the reviewing of the records to the US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch.

Biden has previously slammed Trump for the documents at Mar-a-Lago.

“How that could possibly happen? How anyone could be that irresponsible? And I thought what data was in there that would maybe compromise sources and methods?” the president told “60 Minutes” in an interview last year. “And it just – totally irresponsible.”

The left has made a big deal of the Presidential Records Act that requires all documents from a president’s administration and staff to be turned over to the National Archives.

Responding to the documents being found at Biden’s think tank, Trump asked if the president would be subject to a search by the FBI.

“When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “These documents were definitely not declassified.”

Other conservatives had similar commentary.

And Trump is certain China is involved as well:

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) demanded answers on CNN over the documents.

(Video Credit: CNN)

“My reaction is pretty simple. I’m wondering why the vice president of the United States had classified documents outside of the hands of the intelligence community. Listen, it’s been pretty clear that presidents do have some classified documents, but the difference between a president and everybody else is the president has the ability to declassify information,” Donalds asserted.

“The vice president has no ability to declassify information. So number one, what was he doing with classified information in his possession? Number two, why did it take six years? I want to stress this for the American people. Joe Biden left the vice presidency in 2017,” he noted.

Fox News host Sean Hannity also wants answers. He stated that the documents include “top-secret material collected by intel sources designated as ‘sensitive compartmented information.'”

(Video Credit: Fox News)

Hannity contrasted Biden’s situation with Trump’s and did not provide cover for the president over it. He also played video clips of Hillary Clinton, Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, and other Democrats asserting that no one is above the law, referring to Trump. However, there is nothing but crickets coming from them about Biden’s debacle.

In the end, this boils down to a former president who had executive privilege when it came to classified documents and a former vice president who did not have that authority. Hannity pointed out that Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden were treated much differently than Trump over the issue.

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