5 new pages of classified material were found at Biden’s residence

Aides to President Joe Biden found five additional new pages of classified material at his personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware, on the same day that a special counsel was appointed to investigate the matter, the White House announced Saturday.

This new disclosure marks the latest change in the total number of documents with confidential markings discovered by Biden’s lawyers in a week that has dramatically changed the trajectory of an administration while raising significant questions about how to handle a legally precarious matter.

“We have now publicly released specific details about the identified documents, how they were identified and where they were found,” Richard Sauber, White House special counsel, said in a statement that noted that the White House attorney’s office will not answer further questions about the matter with the ongoing investigation. “The White House will cooperate with the newly appointed Special Counsel.”

The discovery came just hours after the White House Attorney’s Office released a statement specifically citing the discovery of a single document, and on the same day Attorney General Merrick Garland named former US Attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate the subject matter.

The latest disclosure marks the third in a week, and the second time that initial information provided was later proven to be incomplete. Indeed, Sauber said the review of Biden’s homes was completed on Wednesday night, although the additional five pages were discovered on Thursday night. This comes at a time when the White House is struggling to navigate the convergence of ongoing reviews, public messages and mounting political pressure.

The new pages were found when a White House attorney went to Wilmington to facilitate the transfer of a confidential document found at Biden’s home by his personal attorneys to Justice Department officials, Sauber said.

“Since I have a security clearance, I went to Wilmington Thursday night to facilitate the delivery of the document that the President’s personal attorney found Wednesday to the Department of Justice,” Sauber said.

“As I transferred it to the accompanying DOJ officers, five additional pages with classification markings were discovered among the accompanying material, bringing the total to six pages. DOJ officers with me immediately took possession of them,” he adds.

Criticism of the White House

The White House is facing mounting criticism for its lack of transparency with the public about the documents. The initial batch of documents – 10 confidential documents from Biden’s time as vice president were found in his former private office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement – ​​was found on Nov. Monday.

Biden’s personal attorney sought to explain Saturday why he and other members of Biden’s team were not fully informed about the findings.

“The President’s personal counsel has attempted to balance the importance of public transparency, where appropriate, with the established standards and limitations necessary to protect the integrity of the investigation,” Bob Bauer said in a statement. “These considerations require avoiding the public release of details relevant to the investigation while it is ongoing.”

John Lausch Jr., the U.S. attorney in Chicago who led a preliminary investigation into the matter at Garland’s request, did not order searches of additional locations after the initial discovery of classified documents in Biden’s former office, according to a source familiar with the investigation. . Biden’s team offered to conduct additional searches, but moved more slowly than police expected.

There are several additional locations that could be searched, including other offices, and it’s possible that additional documents could still be found, the source said.

Document Disclosures

Bauer, who represents Biden on the classified documents case, said disclosing more details about the case could “complicate the ability of officials conducting the review to obtain information promptly and in a noncommittal manner.”

This includes details about witnesses, specific documents and events involved in the case.

“Regular ongoing public disclosures also pose the risk that, as more information develops, responses provided on this periodic basis may be incomplete,” the statement read.

Bauer said that after discovering the Obama-Biden records at the Washington office of the Penn Biden Center in November, “the President’s personal attorneys conducted searches of the President’s personal residences for additional government records, and because the attorneys have no security clearances, followed standard search protocol.”

CNN previously reported that classified material found in Biden’s private office included some top secret files with the designation of “sensitive compartmentalized information”, which is used for highly confidential information obtained from intelligence sources. Those documents included US intelligence memos and briefing materials covering topics including Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom, according to a source familiar with the matter.

There was also a memo from Biden to President Barack Obama, as well as two preparatory memos preparing Biden for phone calls – one with the British Prime Minister and another with Donald Tusk, who served as President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. It is unclear how much of this material remains sensitive.

“Following the initial discovery of the Penn Biden Center documents, whenever a document with classified marks was identified, the search was suspended in the box, file cabinet or other space where the document was discovered, with the potentially classified material left in place as found, Bauer said, adding that the US government was “promptly notified.”

“It is for this reason that the President’s personal lawyers do not know the exact number of pages of material discovered, nor have they reviewed the content of the documents, in accordance with standard procedures and requirements,” he said. “Adhering to this process means that any disclosure about documents cannot be conclusive until the government has conducted its investigation, including possession of any documents and reviewing any surrounding material for further analysis and context.”