Biden had a second batch of classified documents in a location differing from the Washington office he used after his time as U.S. Vice President, NBC News reports.
The outlet alleged Wednesday afternoon that Biden aids discovered at least one more grouping of classified papers during a search.
NBC did not clarify how many documents there were nor their degree of classification.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) appeared to call for a “Special counsel” to investigate Joe Biden in a post he made Wednesday.
Special counsel https://t.co/omuc8YuAz8
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 11, 2023
Fox News reporter Peter Doocy confronted Biden about one of the discoveries of these documents.
“Classified material next to your Corvette!” Doocy exclaimed. “What were you thinking?”
“My Corvette is in a locked garage, OK? So it’s not like they’re sitting out on the street,” Biden said during a long answer, additionally saying that people know he takes classified documents and material seriously.
Peter Doocy on new batch of classified documents found in Biden's garage: "Classified material next to your Corvette! What were you thinking?"
Biden responds: "My Corvette is in a locked garage, OK? So it's not like they're sitting out on the street" pic.twitter.com/8c8bgAEzip
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 12, 2023
As the New York Post noted, it was not immediately made clear when or where the second batch of documents was discovered, what time period they are from, and how significant they are.
The first group of papers was reportedly dated between 2013-2016 and featured intelligence memos and other materials surrounding Iran, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom, according to a Tuesday report by CNN.
Biden first responded to the controversy Tuesday at a press conference in Mexico City.
“I don’t know what’s in the documents,” claimed Biden. “My lawyers have not suggested I ask what documents they were. I’ve turned over the boxes, they’ve turned over the boxes to the [National] Archives, and we’re cooperating fully, cooperating fully with the review, which I hope will be finished soon, and there’ll be more detail at that time.”
One reporter asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre if the Biden administration could assure the American people that Biden does not have other classified documents on the loose, only to receive a deflection.
“Again, this is an ongoing process, so I’m going to let the process continue,” answered Jean-Pierre. “It is being reviewed by the Department of Justice, and I’m just going to leave it there.”
Numerous Republicans have criticized the seeming double standard of legal treatment between Biden and former President Donald Trump, who had documents and even his passport seized from his home in Mar-a-Lago during a raid by the FBI.
“If you believe a special counsel’s necessary to assure the public about the handling of classified documents by Donald Trump, you should apply a special counsel to the mishandling of classified documents by President Biden when he was vice president,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reportedly told Fox News.
“The idea of prosecuting President Trump for mishandling classified information after this has gone down dramatically.”
“Did the @FBI raid the Biden Center?” asked the House Judiciary Committee.
