Joe Biden addresses found classified documents: ‘there’s no there there’
President Joe Biden told reporters he has ‘no regrets’ about how he has handled the discovery of classified documents at his home in Delaware.
The unscripted remarks came after the president spoke alongside California Governor Gavin Newsom about relief efforts taking place in the storm-damaged Golden State.
After concluding his speech, reporters immediately shouted questions about the potential scandal that has dogged the president for the last two weeks.
‘Do you have any regret, sir, that you didn’t reveal the existence of the documents back in November before the midterms?’
‘What quite frankly bugs me is that we have a serious problem here,’ Biden said, referring to the storm damage from ‘atmospheric river’ storms. ‘The American people don’t quite understand why you don’t ask me questions about that.’
But the president did respond to the reporter’s question.
‘We found a handful of documents that were filed in the wrong place,’ the president said. ‘We immediately turned them over to the Archives and the Justice Department. We’re fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly.’
He continued: ‘I think you’re going to find there’s nothing there. I have no regrets. I’m following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do. It’s exactly what we’re doing. There’s no there there.’
The first batch of about 10 classified documents was found in Biden’s office at a Washington, DC think tank on November 2 – the day before the midterm elections.
Richard Sauber, a special counsel for the president, said that the White House notified the National Archives the same day. However, the Biden administration did not inform the public about the discovery until January.
Later, more documents were discovered at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed US Attorney Robert Hur to oversee a probe into the handling of the documents.
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