Files in private rooms
Biden questioned about secret documents
October 10, 2023, 3:48 a.m
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Donald Trump wasn’t the only one who took home confidential documents from the White House. Joe Biden also has classified information from his time as Vice President. That’s why he’s now undergoing questioning.
US President Joe Biden has testified in the investigation about his handling of confidential documents. The interview by special counsel Robert Hur was voluntary, lasted two days and ended on Monday, said White House Counsel Office spokesman Ian Sams. “As we have said from the beginning, the President and the White House are cooperating with this investigation,” it said.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Hur as special counsel in January to investigate the improper storage of classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president under Barack Obama. At the end of 2022, around a dozen confidential government documents from that time were found in an office previously used by Biden. Additional secret documents were subsequently discovered in Biden’s garage and his home in Delaware. The US Department of Justice then appointed the special prosecutor.
The incident is sensitive for Biden: It gives rise to comparisons with the discovery of hundreds of secret documents in his predecessor Donald Trump’s estate in Florida. Trump’s case is also being investigated by a special investigator and is now being heard in court. A US law requires presidents and vice presidents to turn over all their emails, letters and other documents to the National Archives after leaving office. Biden had emphasized that he had not acted on purpose.