A Justice Department investigation has been launched after classified materials were discovered at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, according to CBS News on Monday.
According to CBS, who cited “two sources with knowledge of the investigation,” the investigation focuses on “approximately 10 documents” that were discovered in “President Biden’s vice-presidential office at the center.”
John Lausch, the U.S. attorney in Chicago, has been tasked by Attorney General Merrick Garland with reviewing the sensitive documents and figuring out how they got to the Penn Biden Center.
The files were discovered by the president’s attorneys on November 2, according to Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, who verified this to CBS News.
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The attorneys “were packing files held in a locked closet to prepare to evacuate office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C.,” he added, when the documents were discovered.
According to Mr. Sauber’s statement, the President’s counsel were responsible for the discovery of these materials. “The Archives had not previously requested or inquired about the documents. Since that finding, the Obama-Biden Administration records have been properly transferred to the Archives with the help of the Department of Justice, the Archives, and the President’s personal attorneys.
The materials were “contained in a folder that was in a box with other unclassified paperwork,” according to CBS News, citing anonymous sources.
Neither the classification level nor the general content of the documents were disclosed.
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The attorney general will decide whether additional inquiry is required, possibly including the appointment of a special counsel, according to CBS. “The study is considered a preliminary step,” it said.
A few streets from the White House, the Penn Biden Center is a think tank linked with the University of Pennsylvania and is named for Mr. Biden before he was elected president.