Biden classified documents: What we know so far about the president’s scandal
Jack Birle
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Days after the first report that President Joe Biden allegedly mishandled classified documents, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced he would appoint Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate.
Since the first report of classified documents being found at the Penn Biden Center surfaced Monday, more details on the Department of Justice’s investigation have come to light.
Here is a breakdown of what we know about the classified documents:
Where the documents were found:
The classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president were found in two locations: the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., and the president’s private residence in Wilmington, Delaware.
Biden’s lawyers first notified the National Archives of documents being found at the Penn Biden Center on Nov. 2, 2022. The Justice Department said they were notified by the National Archives on Nov. 4, 2022.
The DOJ said it was informed of documents found in Biden’s Wilmington residence on Dec. 20. The department also said it was informed of an additional document being found at the Wilmington residence Thursday.
Number of documents found:
The number of classified documents improperly stored is currently unknown. The initial report from CBS News said there were 10 documents at the Penn Biden Center, but the precise number of documents found at Biden’s residence is unknown.
The only indication of how many documents were found in Delaware came from White House counsel Richard Sauber. He said it was a small number of additional documents.
Special counsel Robert Hur:
Garland appointed Hur at a press briefing Thursday. He vowed that Hur would receive all the resources needed to investigate Biden.
“This appointment underscores for the public the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters and to making decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law. I am confident that Mr. Hur will carry out his responsibility in an even-handed and urgent manner and in accordance with the highest traditions of this department,” Garland said
Hur served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland from 2007 to 2014. In 2018, Hur was appointed and confirmed by then-President Donald Trump to serve as the U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland. He left that position in 2021.
Hur has been practicing law privately since leaving his position as chief federal law enforcement officer for the District of Maryland in 2021.
“I will conduct the assigned investigation with fair, impartial, and dispassionate judgment. I intend to follow the facts swiftly and thoroughly, without fear or favor, and will honor the trust placed in me to perform this service,” Hur said in a statement following his appointment as special counsel.
Reaction:
The reaction from lawmakers has varied by party. Republicans are demanding answers on the classified documents, and a Democratic lawmaker suggested the documents may have been planted.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) suggested Thursday that Congress will investigate the allegedly mishandled documents and said he does not believe a special counsel is necessary.
“We don’t think there needs to be a special prosecutor, but I think Congress has a role,” McCarthy said at a press conference.
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) took a different tone with the classified documents. He told Fox News reporter Hilary Vaughn that he believes the documents may have been planted on Biden.
“Things can be planted in places and then discovered conveniently. That may be what has occurred here. I’m not ruling that out. But I’m open in terms of the investigation needs to be investigated,” Johnson said.
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Comparison to Trump’s classified documents:
While both situations concern mishandled classified documents, the circumstances vary in many ways.
The Trump classified documents saga exploded into the public eye when a raid was conducted on the former president’s residence at Mar-a-Lago in August.
The Justice Department investigation began when the National Archives discerned that the Trump team had not returned all documents, which were government property, after Trump left the White House in 2021. The investigation only moved to a special counsel after Trump declared his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election.
The Biden classified documents saga began when lawyers for the president alerted the National Archives of the materials from Biden’s time as vice president that were found at the Penn Biden Center. The Justice Department said it launched an initial inquiry into whether a special counsel would be needed when it first heard of the mishandled documents in November.
Thursday’s announcement from Garland came after the Justice Department determined it wanted to investigate further but sent the matter to a special counsel.