New details are coming to light in the affair surrounding the discovery of secret government documents in the private rooms of US President Joe Biden.
Several US media, including the broadcasters CBS, CNN and Fox News, unanimously reported that the FBI had already searched a former Biden office in the capital Washington in mid-November after its employees had found confidential documents from Biden’s time as US Vice President there in early November had found. It was unclear whether additional documents were discovered during the FBI search, it said. The search was carried out in cooperation with Biden’s team, a search warrant was not requested.
In the past few weeks, confidential documents have repeatedly appeared in Biden’s private rooms – in the office in Washington and in his private house in Wilmington in the state of Delaware, including in the garage there. In January, investigators searched Biden’s home in Wilmington. It was not previously known that investigators had previously combed the offices in Washington. In this case, details only gradually come to light – Biden and the White House are therefore criticized.
For Biden, the revelations are politically very sensitive
The first tranche of confidential documents was discovered on November 2 – shortly before the US congressional elections. The White House emphasizes that Biden’s lawyers immediately informed the National Archives. However, the public only found out about it in January when the broadcaster CBS reported about it. In response to the initial discovery, Biden’s staff then looked elsewhere.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has now hired a special prosecutor to investigate the incidents. For the President, the revelations are politically very sensitive, because it is not allowed to store confidential government documents privately after leaving office. The National Archives are responsible for this in the USA. Biden was US Vice President from 2009 to 2017.
