The White House defended President Joe Biden on Thursday after classified documents from his time as vice president were uncovered by his lawyers and reported to the National Archives.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre read a statement from Biden’s lawyers during the daily press briefing.
“We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the president and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake,” she said.
Classified documents from when Biden was vice president in former President Barack Obama’s administration have now been discovered in three different locations: The president’s residence in Wilmington, his garage, and his private office at the Biden-Penn center in Washington, DC, according to reports.
Jean-Pierre refused to clarify details about where the documents were found but confirmed that the president was “surprised the records were found” in his garage next to his Corvette.
“He did not know the records were there when they were found,” she said.
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby was similarly vague when asked for details about the documents that were discovered in Biden’s possession.
“The president has spoken to how seriously he takes the handling of classified documents,” says John Kirby, noting he did “exactly the right thing” by turning over the documents to the archives.
When asked if Biden having classified documents at his home is a threat to national security, Kirby replied, “That would be a question for the Justice Department.”
