Joe Biden said he was “surprised” by the discovery of classified documents at a think-tank in Washington from his time as vice-president, as he defended his handling of the materials, Trend reports citing Financial Times.
The US president made his first public comments on the documents on Tuesday in Mexico City after a summit of North American leaders.
“I was briefed about this discovery and was surprised to learn there were any government records that were taken there to that office,” Biden said. He added that he took “classified documents, classified information seriously” and the discovery of the documents had been “immediately” reported to the National Archives.
Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, had said on Monday that Biden’s personal attorneys had discovered the documents in early November while packing up an office at the Penn Biden Center, a think-tank that opened in Washington in 2018 and which is affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania. CNN reported that the documents included material relating to Ukraine, Iran and the UK.
The White House has said Biden’s attorneys were co-operating with the Department of Justice, which is reviewing the material.
The revelation comes as the justice department is probing former president Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida from his time in office. Trump for months resisted handing over the material.
James Comer, the Republican chair of the House oversight committee, on Tuesday called for a congressional probe of the material, as members of his party sought to attack Biden over the discovery. But Democrats said they were confident that the president had responded appropriately and the justice department’s review would be impartial.