WASHINGTON – President Biden admitted Thursday that more classified documents were found inside his Delaware garage, near his prized classic Corvette, after the revelation Monday that 10 confidential documents were found in the former office of the Washington think tank. Biden in Washington.
The staggering revelation comes as the Justice Department reviews whether Biden mishandled classified information, a potential crime, after he stepped down as vice president in 2017.
In a move that could have a substantial long-term impact on Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Robert Hur, a former United States Attorney for Maryland, as special counsel Thursday afternoon to look into the matter.
“The special counsel will not be subject to the day-to-day supervision of any department official,” Garland said, adding that “I will ensure that Mr. Hur is given all the resources he needs to do his job.”
Earlier Thursday, Biden admitted he kept the documents next to his car, but insisted he takes seriously his responsibility to safeguard the nation’s secrets.
“Classified materials next to your Corvette? What were you thinking?” Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Biden after he spoke about lowering annual inflation to 6.5% in December.
“My Corvette is in a locked garage, okay? So it’s not like they’re sitting on the street,” Biden responded, appearing to ignore the significance of the discovery.
“So it was in a locked garage?” Doocy insisted.
“Yeah, just like my Corvette,” Biden admitted.
“But as I said earlier this week, people know that I take classified documents and classified material seriously,” the president insisted.
“I also said that we are fully and completely cooperating with the Department of Justice review. As part of that process, my lawyers reviewed other places where documents could be stored, from my time as vice president, and they completed the review last night. They discovered a small number of classified branded documents in storage areas and filing cabinets at my home and in my personal library.”
Biden added: “The Department of Justice was notified immediately and the attorneys arranged for the Department of Justice to take possession of the document. [sic]. So let’s see, let’s see how this all plays out. I’m confident.”
The appointment of a special counsel could prove politically disastrous for Biden, as such investigations often become more focused. For example, the late Kenneth Starr began by investigating then-President Bill Clinton’s real estate dealings and eventually discovered his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, resulting in Clinton’s impeachment for perjury and abuse. of power.
The first son, Hunter Biden, who frequently involved his father in international business relations during his vice presidency and before he became president, appears to have listed the Wilmington home as his residence on a July 2018 arms purchase form.
A former Justice Department official who knows Hur told The Post that it is “possible” that the investigation could morph into a more in-depth investigation into the Bidens, but that may not be likely.
“If I were a betting man, I wouldn’t bet that this is going to result in something gigantic that gets him out of office,” the former Justice Department official said. “I don’t think Garland put Hur in to open a can of worms with Biden. I suspect it’s more to put a lid on the can of worms.”
Biden, 80, has a reputation for showing off his 1967 Corvette Stingray and tested it on an episode of CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage” that aired in October. Biden’s green convertible features a 350-horsepower V8 engine and a four-speed manual transmission.
Moments before Biden spoke, White House special counsel Richard Sauber had made the initial disclosure of the garage in a written statement.
“Following the discovery of government documents at the Penn Biden Center in November 2022, and in close coordination with the Department of Justice, the president’s attorneys have searched the president’s residences in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the other locations where find files from his Vice-Presidential office could have been sent during the 2017 transition. Lawyers completed that review last night,” Sauber said.
Additional classified documents were found in the garage of President Biden’s home in Delaware.
Additional classified documents were found in the garage of President Biden’s home in Delaware.
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“During the review, attorneys discovered among personal and political documents a small number of additional Obama-Biden Administration records bearing classified marks. All but one of these documents were found in storage space in the garage of the President’s residence in Wilmington. A document consisting of one page was discovered among materials stored in an adjacent room. No documents were found at the Rehoboth Beach residence.”
Sauber added: “As was done in the Penn-Biden Center case, the Department of Justice was immediately notified and the attorneys arranged for the Department of Justice to take possession of these documents.”
After Garland named Hur as special counsel, Sauber added: “We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the President and his attorneys acted promptly upon discovering this error.”
CNN reported Wednesday that 10 documents, relating to Iran, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, that were recovered at the Penn Biden Center on November 2 had classified markings and were dated between 2013 and 2016. They were found mixed with Biden family documents. , including information. about the funeral arrangements for President Beau’s son, who died in 2015. Some of the documents were reportedly labeled “top secret,” the highest level of government classification.
Garland said the DOJ was notified of the discovery of the initial document on November 4, four days before the midterm elections, and that the documents at Biden’s home were located on December 20. Garland also said Chicago federal prosecutor John Lausch, who conducted an initial review of Biden’s documents, only learned of the material from Biden’s lawyers Thursday.
“This morning, President Biden’s personal attorney called Mr. Lausch and stated that an additional document with classification marks was identified at the President’s personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware,” he said.
Under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, the documents of the president and vice president of each administration are considered public and are transferred to the National Archives in preparation for deposit in a future presidential library. The Act specifically places the responsibility on the outgoing administration to separate personal records from presidential and vice-presidential records.
Meanwhile, NBC News reported Thursday that several former aides of the then-Vice President had been interviewed by federal law enforcement officials. Garland tasked Chicago US Attorney John Lausch with an initial review of Biden’s documents, a process that has reportedly been completed.
In addition to the Presidential Records Act, federal law provides that officials who permit the removal of classified information from its rightful place for “gross negligence” can be imprisoned for up to ten years.
Thursday’s disclosure followed the dramatic Aug. 8 raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, in an effort to recover classified documents.
Biden at that moment unleashed his predecessor, counting “60 minutes” on Spet. 18, that Trump had been “irresponsible” in withholding the documents after leaving office in January 2021.
“I thought, ‘What data was there that could compromise the sources and the methods?’” Biden told CBS News’ Scott Pelley. “By that I mean the names of the people who helped or th-etc. And just… totally irresponsible.
Fox News reporter Peter Doocy questions President Biden about the garage documents.
Fox News reporter Peter Doocy questions President Biden about the garage documents.
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) criticized Biden for hypocrisy on Thursday.
“He kept them in different places out in the open,” McCarthy said at a news conference. “He criticized President Trump. Did you use the Department of Justice to raid President Trump? Do you think that was correct? They knew this had happened to President Biden before the election, but they kept it a secret from the American public and he goes on ’60 Minutes’ and criticizes President Trump even knowing what he has done.”
On November 18, Garland appointed prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee the investigation into Trump’s withholding of classified documents, as well as the 45th President’s efforts to nullify the 2020 presidential election. It is unclear if Garland he knew about Biden’s classified documents when he chose Smith for the job.
Biden has been a regular visitor to his Wilmington home during his nearly two years as president.
Given the frequency of his visits there, The Post has repeatedly pressed for details about who the president will meet at his home, but the Secret Service has insisted it does not keep logs of his visitors there and the White House has refused to release them. disclose that information. .