Politics

Biden plays down classified documents scandal, blames his staff

Washington, Feb 8 (EFE).- US President Joe Biden downplayed Wednesday the controversy over classified documents discovered at his Delaware home and private office, but he faulted his staff for the mishandling as they unpacked at the end of his previous as vice president during Barack Obama’s presidency.

“One of the things that happened is that, what was not done well, is as they packed up my office’s to move them, they didn’t do the kind of job that should have been done to go thoroughly through every single piece of literature that’s there,” the president said.

The confidential records from Biden’s stint as vice president were discovered in several locations in January, escalating Republican attacks against the Democrat.

Secretary of Justice Merrick Garland appointed Robert Hur as a special prosecutor to study the files on Jan.12.

“The best of my knowledge, the kinds of things they picked up are things that are from 1974 and stray papers – there may be something else, I don’t know,” Biden told PBS News Hour host Judy Woodruff.

Asked if it was “totally irresponsible” to have the documents left behind, Biden said he was not at liberty to speak in detail.

“They’ve informed me not to speak to this issue to any way try to prejudice the investigation that’s going on,” Biden said. “But what I was talking about what was laid out, all these documents were top secret, code word and all the rest.”

He attempted to draw a comparison between his alleged mishandling of secret data and former President Donald Trump’s document row.

The FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home even as the former president refused to cooperate with the investigation.

However, Biden himself invited the FBI to search his home, as he confirmed in a PBS interview.

The White House has insisted on several occasions that the president cooperated in the probe.

“I’m not at liberty. I’m not even sure. I made voluntarily, no one’s had to threaten to do anything, voluntary, when every single aperture I have with house, offices, everything for them to come and look and spend hours searching my home, invited them,” Biden said.

All data must be turned over to the National Archives at the end of a presidential term, as per US law. EFE

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