Memos and briefing materials covering topics including Ukraine, Iran, and the United Kingdom were included among the 10 classified documents found in a Washington, D.C., office that had been used by President Joe Biden after he left his second term as vice president, according to new reports Tuesday.
The documents, dated between 2013 and 2016, were in boxes that also included personal Biden family documents, including funeral arrangements for Beau Biden, who died in 2015, CNN reports, quoting a source said to be familiar with the matter.
The documents were discovered on Nov. 2 when a personal lawyer for the president was closing out an office that Biden had used as part of his work with the University of Pennsylvania after he finished as vice president.
CNN's source said the attorney saw an envelope with markings indicating that Biden's personal documents were inside and opened it, finding the classified documents.
The lawyer closed the envelope and contacted the National Archives and Records Administration. Biden's team ended up turning over several boxes to the agency out of an abundance of caution, including boxes containing personal materials.
Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Tuesday requested that the intelligence community conduct a damage assessment of the documents, reports The Washington Post.
Turner sent his request in a letter to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, saying that by keeping the documents, Biden is in "potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act."
Biden ignored questions shouted at him Tuesday while he was in a bilateral meeting in Mexico City with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, reports the Post.
Turner's request comes after the White House confirmed the Department of Justice was reviewing the documents.
"Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it," Turner also said in his letter. "This issue demands a full and thorough review."
Attorney General Merrick Garland has asked U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch, a holdover from former President Donald Trump's administration, to review the matter.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said Monday the news raises questions about the Justice Department's handling of the investigation into Trump and the discovery of classified documents at the former president's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last summer.
"Is the White House going to be raided tonight? Are they going to raid the Bidens?" Comer asked reporters. "This is further concern that there's a two-tier justice system within the DOJ with how they treat Republicans versus Democrats, certainly how they treat the former president versus the current president."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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