Biden documents contained ‘top secret’ intelligence: Report

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Biden documents contained ‘top secret’ intelligence: Report

Top secret intelligence was reportedly recovered in the first stash of President Joe Biden’s classified documents that were unearthed at a think tank last fall. 

Such material can pose “exceptionally grave damage” to national security if it gets leaked. In total, there were roughly 10 documents from his vice presidential days discovered at the Washington think tank and fewer than 10 recovered at Biden’s garage in the second tranche found in Wilmington, Delaware, bringing the total number of recovered classified materials to about 20, a source toldCBS. 

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One of Biden’s lawyers had flagged an envelope that contained about 10 files with classified markings featuring intelligence about Iran, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom dated from 2013 to 2016. The discovery was first made in an office space at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement on Nov. 2, six days before the midterm elections. 

In this image provided by the White House, President Joe Biden speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone from his private residence in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 30, 2021.

Documents recovered there were previously known to have contained “sensitive compartmented information.” Biden “periodically used this space from mid-2017 until the start of the 2020 campaign,” according to White House counsel Richard Sauber. Following the discovery, Biden’s team apprised the National Archives and Records Administration and conducted a sweep at the president’s Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, residences. 

That search yielded a second batch of classified material located in his Wilmington garage near his prized 1967 Corvette Stingray. Biden’s team informed the Justice Department of that discovery on Dec. 20. No top secret documents were recovered in Wilmington, per CBS. 

Biden’s team also later informed the DOJ of an “additional document bearing classified markings” on Jan. 12, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland. No classified documents have been reported from the Rehoboth search. 

News of the classified document saga rocked the Biden administration this week, and Garland announced the appointment of U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as a special counsel to investigate the matter Thursday. Biden has maintained that he is “cooperating fully” with the proper government authorities. 

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Biden’s classified documents debacle has drawn parallels with former President Donald Trump, who has chided his successor over the controversy. More than 300 documents marked classified, including ones labeled top secret, were recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last year. Trump has denied wrongdoing and insisted that he declassified the material, contending that a president can do so “just by thinking” about it. 

Trump is facing scrutiny from special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading an investigation into the matter. He has decried that inquiry as a “giant scam.”