Topline
Federal authorities have interviewed multiple Obama Administration aides who worked for President Joe Biden while he served as vice president about the discovery of classified documents at Biden’s home and old office, according to NBC News, as a special counsel investigates whether there was any potential wrongdoing.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on developing infrastructure jobs in the East Room of the White … [+] House on November 2, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Key Facts
It’s not clear how many staffers have been interviewed and what authorities might have learned so far.
Former Biden executive assistant Kathy Chung, who worked on packing up Biden’s vice presidential office when he left the post in 2017, has been among those interviewed, according to NBC News, citing sources with knowledge of the discussions.
The White House and Justice Department have not responded to requests for comment from Forbes.
Biden claimed at a news conference Tuesday that he doesn’t know the contents of the documents and said their discovery came as a “surprise.”
Those receiving interview requests responded “quickly,” according to NBC News.
What To Watch For
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed Trump-era U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to oversee the investigation. Special counsels usually have more independence than normal federal prosecutors and don’t work under the day-to-day supervision of the DOJ’s leadership, though the attorney general is allowed to overrule a special counsel as long as Congress is notified.
Key Background
The White House this week announced two tranches of classified documents dating to Biden’s time as vice president were found by Biden’s team in recent months—one at Biden’s former private office at the Penn Biden Center in D.C. and another inside the garage of his home in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden officials have been coy about discussing details of the documents, and only publicly acknowledged the discoveries following media reports about them. The administration claims Biden’s legal team swiftly handed over the records to the National Archives after they were found. The agency then alerted the Justice Department, which began conducting a review prior to Thursday’s special counsel appointment, and the White House says it is “fully cooperating” with authorities. Presidential administrations are required to turn over all sensitive records to the National Archives when a president leaves office.
Tangent
Many Republican lawmakers have drawn comparisons with allegations that former President Donald Trump mishandled classified records, but the cases appear very different. The FBI recovered hundreds of sensitive documents from Mar-A-Lago in an August raid after prosecutors said Trump went months refusing to comply with a subpoena demanding the records. Only a handful of classified records connected to Biden have reportedly been found, and Biden officials say they notified authorities immediately after finding the documents.
Further Reading
Multiple Biden aides have been interviewed by federal law enforcement in classified document review (NBC News)
AG Garland Appoints Special Counsel To Investigate Biden’s Handling Of Classified Documents (Forbes)
Biden: ‘I Don’t Know’ Contents Of Classified Documents Found In Private Office (Forbes)
Second Set Of Classified Documents Found At Biden’s Home (Forbes)
Classified Records Found In Biden’s Former Private Office (Forbes)
Mar-A-Lago Raid: FBI Investigating Whether Trump Violated These 3 Statutes (Forbes)
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Nicholas Reimann