OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden is facing the most massive crisis of his presidency, which has seen its fair share of crisis as Senate Democrats are joining the chorus of asking for an investigation into his mishandling of classified documents.
“The reports about President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents are extremely irresponsible and disturbing. These allegations should be investigated fully,” West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin said to Fox News.
“This news raises serious questions and the appointment of an unbiased special prosecutor to investigate the matter is the right step,” Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine, who announced his bid for reelection last week, said to Fox News.
On Tuesday, before the news that the FBI searched the president’s private residence on Friday and discovered more classified documents, Rep. Katie Porter, who has announced her bid for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat, demanded answers.
“Classified documents belong in classified settings, and I think you heard me say oversight is not a partisan thing. Good oversight means you’re willing to hold any rule breaker to account,” she said to Fox News. “We should be asking for answers in a respectful way, and we should be expecting to get honest ones.”
“Well, it’s certainly embarrassing. Right?” retiring Democrat Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow said last week in an interview with NBC News. “I mean, it’s embarrassing that you would find a small number of documents, certainly not on purpose. They don’t think it’s the right thing and they’ve been moving to correct it, working with the Department of Justice, working with everyone involved, with the [National] Archives, and so from my perspective, you know, it’s one of those moments that obviously they wish hadn’t happened.”
On Friday the FBI has conducted a search of the private home of the sitting President of the United States, Joe Biden, and found more classified documents he should not have had.
“DOJ took possession of materials it deemed within the scope of its inquiry, including six items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding materials, some of which were from the President’s service in the Senate and some of which were from his tenure as Vice President. DOJ also took for further review personally handwritten notes from the vice-presidential years,” the president’s personal attorney said.
The search was conducted over a 12 hour period on Friday with the approval of the president’s attorneys, unlike the raid on former President Donald Trump’s home, CNN reported.
Those six items are in addition to materials previously found at Biden’s Wilmington residence and in his private office.
The federal search of BIden’s home, while voluntary, marks an escalation of special counsel Robert Hur’s probe into the president’s handling of classified documents and will inevitably draw comparisons to his predecessor, former President Donald Trump – even if the FBI’s search of Trump’s residence was conducted under different circumstances.
The FBI five months ago obtained a search warrant to search Trump’s Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, an unprecedented step that was taken because federal investigators had evidence suggesting Trump had not handed over all classified materials in his possession after receiving a subpoena to turn over classified documents to the National Archives. Trump’s handling of classified material at Mar-a-Lago is also the subject of a special counsel investigation led by Jack Smith.
The search shows that federal investigators are swiftly moving forward with the probe into classified documents found in Biden’s possession. Hur, who was appointed a little more than a week ago, is investigating how the president and his team handled Obama-era classified documents that were recently found in Biden’s private possession.
Members of the president’s private legal team and White House counsel were president during, what they called a, “thorough search,” where they were granted “full access” to the Biden home.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan announced a new probe last Friday into President Joe Biden following revelations that he was in possession of Obama-era classified documents, potentially in violation of federal law governing such materials.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Ohio Republican noted that it was his committee’s responsibility to conduct such “oversight” and added that he expected the Justice Department to cooperate. The Judiciary probe follows another by Rep. James Comer’s Oversight Committee investigation into the matter, as well as that of a special counsel appointed by Garland last week.
