What we know about President Biden’s classified document scandal
President Biden has been silent since news broke late Monday that classified documents from his days as vice president were found at a DC think tank that bears his name.
Here’s what we know so far:
- The classified material was discovered on Nov. 2, 2022 — six days before the midterm elections — at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a think tank affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located fewer than two miles from the White House
- The documents were found by Biden’s personal lawyers while clearing boxes of files out of an office closet at the Penn Biden Center
- Biden, 80, used the office from mid-2017 until launching his presidential campaign in spring 2019, according to a statement from Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president
- CNN reported Tuesday that 10 documents dated between 2013 and 2016 have classified markings, with some designated as “Top Secret” — the highest level of classification — or as containing “sensitive compartmented information,” meaning the highly secret information was obtained from intelligence sources
- The documents also reportedly include intelligence memos and material related to Iran, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. They were mixed in with other personal papers belonging to the president, including funeral arrangements for Biden’s late son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015
- Chicago US Attorney John Lausch, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, reportedly has submitted a preliminary report to Attorney General Merrick Garland and briefed the nation’s top law enforcement officer repeatedly about the matter. The AG will decide what next steps to take, including potentially appointing a special counsel
- It is not clear why the White House waited more than two months to report that the documents were found