Joe Biden’s classified-document headache worsens with second batch
- The files were found at a site separate from the Washington think tank office where materials dating from Biden’s vice-presidency were discovered
- US lawmakers have asked for a damage assessment and a briefing on the retention of classified documents by both Biden and Trump
Joe Biden’s efforts to quell a controversy over classified documents in his private possession became more difficult after aides discovered a second set, a development that will intensify scrutiny of the president.
The revelation, reported Wednesday by NBC News and The New York Times, that records were found at a separate location from the first set are likely to prompt tough questions for the White House and fuel criticism from Republicans – even though they dismiss more serious accusations against former president Donald Trump.
While the different approaches taken by Trump and Biden toward the documents have made it hard for Republicans to draw an equivalence, the string of discoveries will raise pressure on the White House to answer questions it has dismissed.
Aides have repeatedly declined to say why classified material dating from Biden’s time as vice-president wasn’t in the government’s possession and why the discovery of the first batch wasn’t disclosed sooner.
The developments have politically complicated the case against Trump, though Democrats have defended Biden by pointing out that his representatives immediately returned the materials upon their discovery unlike Trump’s efforts to fight their return.
Yet Biden’s criticism of Trump as “totally irresponsible” over his storage of classified material at his Mar-a-Lago estate has opened the current president up to fresh accusations of hypocrisy.