Biden’s attorneys admitted on Monday, January 9, that they had found classified documents in Biden’s private office during November. These documents were from Biden’s time as the Vice President of the US and were found at Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, the private office used by Biden from 2017 to 2020. Biden’s attorneys added that they found the documents while the office was being cleared in November. Since the news of finding confidential documents at Biden’s private office broke out, President Biden is getting cornered by the media and other political figures. This is because no one is allowed to hold on to any government document or record of any sort when their government service ends.
Joe Biden served as the Vice President of the US from 2009 to 2017 under the Obama administration. However, Biden was using his private office, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, during his time at the University of Pennsylvania. Biden was working with the University of Pennsylvania as the Honorary Professor from 2017 to 2019. He left this office at the start of 2020 when he placed his bid for the 2020 Presidential Election. Since November, Biden has avoided providing any comments on the news of these confidential documents found at his office. Whenever he was asked by the reporters regarding these documents, Biden avoided the conversation. Many commented that this must have been because of the confidentiality clause. But now, the acknowledgment by Biden’s attorneys and his representatives has cleared at least some of the doubts and questions about these documents. Richard Sauber, the special counsel to President Biden, made a statement regarding the situation where he said that the White House is in contact with the National Archives and the Department of Justice to responsibly address these confidential documents. He further said that these confidential documents were found by Biden’s attorneys when they were closing Biden’s private office, Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C. These documents were found on November 2, 2022. Richard Sauber said that on the same day of this discovery, the White House immediately contacted the National Archives, which procured the documents on the next day. He also made it clear that the documents had confidential information from the Obama administration, meaning when Barack Obama was the President of the US. Although, Sauber did not mention anything about the exact period of the documents.
Even though the discovery of these documents is an alarming situation for Joe Biden, according to his administration officials, it has not affected Biden’s behavior much. One of the officials under the Biden administration said that President Biden has been continuously focused on the summit in Mexico City and his meetings. Although, things can take a turn anytime as the Republicans have now control over the US House of Representatives. The Biden administration has been investigating the former President of the US, Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents. Hence, President Biden can also find himself cornered for the same reason.
