President Joe Biden addressed why he kept classified documents from when he was vice president during the North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico City on Tuesday.
Biden was asked about the classified documents, to which he responded: “When my lawyers were clearing out my office at the University of Pennsylvania… They found some documents in a box in a locked cabinet… And as soon as they did, they realized there were several classified documents in that box. They did what they should have done, they immediately called the archives, turned them over to the archives, and I was briefed about this discovery and was surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office.”
Biden on 60 Minutes in September reacting to classified documents being found at Mar-a-Lago:
"How does that happen? How could anyone be that irresponsible." https://t.co/ps6kLurHa3 pic.twitter.com/WiiYBGPOFM
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 9, 2023
“I don’t know what’s in the documents,” Biden continued. “My lawyers have not suggested that I ask what documents they were. I turned over the boxes, they turned over the boxes to the archives, and we’re cooperating fully with the review, which I hope will be finished soon. There’ll be more detail at that time.”
The documents, which were found in a folder inside a box along with other unclassified materials, was identified by the president’s attorneys prior to the November midterm elections last year, special counsel to the president Richard Sauber said.
The documents were found when Biden’s personal attorneys “were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C.,” Sauber said in a statement.
Joe Biden reads from a prepared statement & says he has no idea how classified documents, including classified documents on Ukraine & Iran, ended up in his private office. Democrats have made it clear none of this matters, he has to go to prison. pic.twitter.com/lBqmcS7um7
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 11, 2023
“The discovery of these documents was made by the President’s attorneys,” Sauber said. “The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the Archives. Since that discovery, the President’s personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives.”
