The review will likely draw comparisons to the criminal probe of Trump’s possession of documents at Mar-a-Lago, but appears quite different, people familiar with the inquiry said.
The Justice Department has launched a review into the discovery of classified documents at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Engagement, an institute in downtown Washington, D.C., that Joe Biden started after serving as vice president, according to people familiar with the matter.
The White House confirmed the ongoing inquiry and said it is cooperating with the Justice Department and quickly handed over the documents to the National Archives and Records Administration — the agency tasked with handling presidential records. Roughly 10 documents were found, said one person familiar with the inquiry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The discovery was first reported by CBS News.
“The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden Administration records, including a small number of documents with classified markings,” Richard Sauber, special counsel to President Biden, said in statement.
The documents were found at the Penn Biden Center in early November, not long before Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped a special counsel, Jack Smith, to oversee the agency’s criminal investigation into Trump’s possible mishandling of hundreds of classified documents that were taken to Mar-a-Lago after his presidency ended. Officials have said the Trump investigation concerns not just the possible mishandling of government secrets, but possible obstruction of justice or destruction of records.
In the case involving the Penn Biden Center, Sauber said the documents were discovered when the president’s personal lawyers were packing files kept in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the center, which Biden used periodically from mid-2017 until he launched his presidential campaign in 2020.
