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White House confirms classified documents found at Biden's Delaware home

"All but one of these documents were found in storage space in the President’s Wilmington residence garage," the special counsel said.

Published: January 12, 2023 10:29am

Updated: January 12, 2023 12:28pm

The White House on Thursday confirmed that a second set of classified documents from when Joe Biden was vice president had been discovered in the garage of his home in Wilmington, Delaware.

"During the review, the lawyers discovered among personal and political papers a small number of additional Obama-Biden administration records with classified markings," special counsel Richard Sauber said, The New York Times reported

"All but one of these documents were found in storage space in the President’s Wilmington residence garage. One document consisting of one page was discovered among stored materials in an adjacent room," he said. 

Biden on Thursday, after the announcement, said the documents were in a locked garage and that he takes "seriously" the issue of classified documents. 

"People know I take classified documents and classified materials seriously," Biden said from the White House. "We're cooperating fully and completely with the Justice Department review."

Biden's lawyers also searched the president's Rehoboth Beach, Delaware-area home but no documents were found, Sauber said. 

The president's legal team turned over the documents announced Thursday to the Justice Department, officials said. 

The statement confirmed reports Wednesday that a second batch of classified documents had been found after the White House confirmed earlier this week that another batch of sensitive documents was found in Biden's former office on Nov. 2. 

Biden told reporters on Tuesday he was "surprised" to learn about the classified documents discovered in his former office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. He said his staff cooperated with the Justice Department and the National Archives, but he did not mention the documents found later in the fall. 

Officials have not provided details about how many records were found or what information the documents contain.

Media reports stated that the classified records in the first batch of documents included intelligence memos and materials related to Iran and Ukraine.

After the second batch of documents were confirmed, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced plans to deliver a statement at 1:15 P.M. ET on Thursday. The Justice Department did not state what the speech will be about.

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