A «small number of documents» with classified markings that appear to be from the Obama administration were found in a Washington, D.C., think tank linked to President Joe Biden and are being reviewed by the Justice Department and the National Archives. , a White House attorney. he said Monday.
The documents were discovered in a locked cabinet by Biden’s lawyers days before the midterms as they prepared to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, said Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president. it’s a statement.
CBS News first reported on document review.
Sauber said the White House is cooperating with the Justice Department and the National Archives regarding the discovery of documents found in an office Biden used «periodically» from mid-2017 until the start of his 2020 presidential campaign.
«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 marks,» Sauber said.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed that Attorney General Merrick Garland has asked U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John R. Lausch to look into the matter of how the classified material ended up at the Penn Biden Center. The review was intentionally assigned to Lausch, a Trump-appointed holdover, to avoid any conflict of interest, the source said.
According to Sauber, the classified material was discovered on November 2 by Biden’s personal attorneys, and the White House Attorney’s Office notified the National Archives, which took possession of the materials the next morning.
“The documents were not the subject of any prior request or investigation by the Archives,” Sauber said. «Since that discovery, the President’s personal lawyers have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden administration records are properly in the Archive’s possession.»