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US PRESIDENT JOE President Joe Biden says he was “surprised” when he was informed that government records were found by his attorneys at a former office space in Washington.
He was asked about the issue after the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee requested that the US intelligence conduct a “damage assessment” of potentially classified documents.
Speaking to reporters in Mexico City, Biden said his attorneys “did what they should have done” when they immediately called the National Archives about the discovery at the offices of the Penn Biden Centre.
He kept an office there after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his presidential campaign in 2019.
The White House confirmed that the Department of Justice was reviewing “a small number of documents with classified markings” found at the office.
“I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there to that office,” Biden said in his first comments since news of the November 2, 2022, document discovery emerged on Monday.
He added that “I don’t know what’s in the documents” and that his lawyers had suggested he not ask.
Earlier on Tuesday, representative Mike Turner sent the request to director of national intelligence Avril Haines, saying that Biden’s retention of the documents put him in “potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act”.
Irrespective of a federal review, the revelation that Biden potentially mishandled classified or presidential records could prove to be a political headache for the president, who called former president Donald Trump’s decision to keep hundreds of such records at his private club in Florida “irresponsible”.
“Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it,” said Turner in a letter to Haines. “This issue demands a full and thorough review.”
On Tuesday, representative James Comer, the new GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent the White House Counsel’s office a letter requesting copies of the documents found at the Biden office, communications about the discovery, and a list of those who may have had access to the office where they were found.
The White House did not immediately respond to the request.
Haines agreed in September to conduct a “risk assessment” rather than a “damage assessment” of Trump’s case.
There are significant differences between the Trump and Biden situations, including the gravity of an ongoing grand jury investigation into the Mar-a-Lago matter.
The intelligence risk assessment into the Trump documents is to examine the seized records for classification as well as “the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents”.
Senator Mark Warner, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for a briefing on the documents.
“Our system of classification exists in order to protect our most important national security secrets, and we expect to be briefed on what happened both at Mar-a-Lago and at the Biden office as part of our constitutional oversight obligations,” he said.
“From what we know so far, the latter is about finding documents with markings, and turning them over, which is certainly different from a months-long effort to retain material actively being sought by the government. But again, that’s why we need to be briefed.”
Special counsel to the president Richard Sauber said on Monday that after Biden’s attorneys found the records, they notified the National Archives and Records Administration — which took custody of the documents the next day.
“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,” Sauber said.
A person who is familiar with the matter but not authorised to discuss it publicly said attorney general Merrick Garland asked US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch to review the matter after the Archives referred the issue to the department.
Lausch is one of the few US attorneys to be held over from Trump’s administration.
Trump weighed in Monday on his social media site, asking: “When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?”
Republicans have just taken control of the House of Representatives and are promising to launch widespread investigations of Biden’s administration.
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Thanks to the government – Home is unattainable for masses of people that are not disabled…
And to those that are unfortunate to be disabled should forget getting a home here in Ireland.
@John Johnes: interesting comment John. I mean I think it is really fascinating that anyone would compare the two. I mean the reality is most people in employment can infact purchase a home somewhere but many wish to live in a certain location. The sad reality for many people with disabilities is the limited access to employment, mortgage approval and subsequent life assurance to draw down any mortgage offer they may be offered and of course servicing the mortgage depending on the nature of the disability. This along with genuine restrictions on where one can live, e.g. to be near services, healthcare, supports, functioning public services like transport links etc again depending on the nature of the disability and generalising grossly here. I find it fascinating that anyone would bring on the perceived wows of the “typical” “mainstream” or non disabled person into the sole comment on this article.
@Sarah Lou: yeah but that’s John for you
@Sarah Lou:
Most people in employment can purchase a home? The average wage nationwide is less than 50k, good luck with getting a mortgage that would be enough to buy a house.
@Dean: 50000×3.5 +10% deposit, would get you a home somewhere in Ireland. As I said above most people who say they cant afford a home, mean they cant afford a home where they want to live. Also many if not most people buy a home with 2 incomes statistically, so that is 100000×3.5 + 10% and would buy you a home in many areas. I cant actually believe you think a person on 50k without a disability is in anyway comparable to someone on the Disability Allowance without the ability to earn any wage or secure any mortgage etc. This is a little to me like when people were describing individuals in dublin airport going on their jollies as the third world. Unpleasant Airport experience, definitely not satisfactory or acceptable in Ireland in 2022 but no kids were dying from malnourishment in the airport. Get a little perspective.
Owning a home is only a pipe dream for anyone in Ireland regardless of disability or not
@Ronan Horan: Really? I’m someone in Ireland I’ll be collecting the keys to my new build home by the end of the month.
@Roy Dowling: Roy you have been around here long enough to know noone wants to hear your good news!!!!! Just kidding congrats and well done for highlighting that it’s not all doomsday stuff
Not to minimise the challenges faced by people living with disabilities, but the reason for this is the same reason that numerous other people not living with disabilities, also struggle to find or afford a home, the lack of affordable social housing.
Which is a failure of successive governments across all parties that have been in government in the past and three of whom are currently in government, to build social housing.
Not because the demand hasn’t existed dyring the last 35 years, but because they instead chose to keep house values inflated, by limiting the supply and facilitating property developers and investors to capitalise on the artificially created circumstances of turning houses into assets that out performed all other investment opportunities, great for their cronies, but the knock on effect is that houses are now so overvalued, that hedge funds have bought them up to control the rental market, further inflating the price of rent to levels that even people with good jobs can’t afford to pay.
The only way out of this cul de sac of greed is to elect a government that will deliver social housing on the scale required, this will allow everyone that needs social housing to be housed and also lower the prices of houses and rent across the board to benefit everyone, except property developers and hedge funds.
This socialist solution may be a bitter pill for some to swallow, but the alternative is continuing to watch generations of our children leaving Ireland, because they can’t afford to live here…
@David Van-Standen: We know how this works. Sinn Fein/IRA will promise to fix all our woes, including global famine. But if they do get into power will claim that due to years of mismanagement they are unable to fulfill our dreams and will be worse than those who went before as they’ll have no experience of government. What they have is a well oiled machine to rally voters.
@David Van-Standen: The subject is persons with Disabilities and homelessness.
Yet as usual, people forget the main topic to push their own agenda.
Please stuck to the topic,
The topic is disabled peoples access to housing, nothing else.
If you are not interested in the subject but housing for able people instead comment on an article about that subject, as this is not that article
3d printed housing technolgy may help when it gets going properly. Apparently the build is much much cheaper as labour is significantly reduced.
The first thing we want should be for the Government to lay down rules for banks. With regard to mortgages when on disability allowance Banks should be made give these people the loan they need at a reduced interest rate. They could recoup 50% of their loss on mortgages over one million euro – that’d solve the problem but obviously No politician has the ingenuity to pull this off.
Amazing all these comments by people pushing their own issues and nothing to do with the topic.
Nothing unusual with, disability issues being ignored or worse used to push personal agendas.
Our needs and campaigns are regularly hijacked by able people to promote themselves and their agenda.
Disability rights, issues etc will then be fully ignored again until they see the possibility to use us again.
Noteworthy have worked hard to show the reality of my community and its issues.
Sick of the crocodile tears on here for my community. Not just here either, the hypocrisy of most people in relation to disability inclusion is frightening.
Most of it is by accident but it still has the same affect on us.
Educate yourselves on the topic, beome aware of the people in my community.
Here is a shocking thought, ASK THEM?
Julie Helen
No one can solve the Affordable Housing issue in Ireland until the Referendum on Housing is passed. Only then can the laws be passed to remove all the barriers to enable affordable house building and affordable rents for all Irish citizens.
Current Irish Constitution is ambiguous, vague and open to interpretation which suits all those vested interests in high Rents and high House prices.
New home in France for €160,000 (80K site & 80K house.) not €260,000 in Ireland.
37% of cost of new homes in Ireland is completely artificial and has nothing to do with the cost of build. VAT alone on a new house in Ireland is €28,000 .. none in France.
A Referendum is the only way out for all those locked out of home ownership and rent slaves.
https://www.change.org/p/irish-referendum-on-family-home-special-status
@Neuville-Kepler62F: Please stick to the topic and keep your own agenda to yourself.
the topic is the DISABLED COPMMUNITY and Housing
It could be argued that Homelessness is the new disabled?
have your say