The White House says the US Justice Department is reviewing potentially classified documents from the former office of President Joe Biden at a think tank.
Mr. Biden’s legal team discovered about 10 files in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center in Washington in November, his lawyer said.
This batch has been handed over to the National Archives.
Mr. Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, faces an investigation into taking classified files to Florida after his presidency.
According to JEE News, the FBI is involved in the investigation of classified documents found at the Penn Biden Center and US Attorney General Merrick Garland has been asked to review the documents.
A source familiar with the matter told JEE News that the batch did not contain nuclear secrets and was in a folder in a box with other declassified papers.
President Biden’s special counsel, Richard Sober, said in a statement to JEE News on Monday that the files were discovered just before the midterm elections by Biden’s lawyers who were clearing office space.
Mr. Biden held an office at the think tank, located less than a mile from the White House, from 2017 to 2020.
Mr. Sober said: “Since this discovery [of the documents], the president’s personal lawyers have cooperated with the [National] Archives and the Department of Justice to ensure that any records of the Obama-Biden administration are properly in possession of the manner. of the Archives.”
Mr Trump responded on Monday on his social media site, Truth Social, asking: “When will the FBI raid many of Joe Biden’s homes, maybe even the White House?”
Mr Trump is under investigation for allegedly resisting requests to return 300 classified documents he took to his Florida estate at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office. The National Archives reported the matter to the authorities.
Biden’s files were discovered shortly before the Justice Department announced it would appoint an independent counsel to decide whether Mr Trump should be charged criminally over the files found at his golf club.
Congressman James Comer, the new Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Monday that Biden’s handling of the papers raises questions about the Justice Department’s impartiality.
He told reporters: “It’s more concerning that there’s a two-tier system of justice within the DOJ [Department of Justice] in how they treat Republicans versus Democrats, certainly former presidents versus current presidents.” How do you treat the President?”
Neither the Penn Biden Center nor the National Archives had an immediate comment.
In September, President Biden appeared on CBS and was asked for his reaction to a photo of the documents recovered at Mar-a-Lago.
“How could someone be so irresponsible?” said the president.
