By Isabelle Wilson-
Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced that an independent lawyer will investigate President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents
Files were found in President Joe Biden’s Delaware home, the White House said earlier today, adding that similar files were discovered by aides at a Washington DC office Biden used after his term as vice-president.
Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy has called for Congress to investigate Biden, accusing him of hypocrisy, as he sought to draw parallels with the investigation to that of former President Donald Trump who is himself being investigated over his handling of hundreds of classified files.
The papers, discovered at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, reportedly contain briefings on foreign countries.
A Republican congressional committee is to investigate the claims.
Biden was reportedly surprised by the discovery of the records, according to Whitehouse sources who say that once his team identified them, they immediately informed the National Archives and the Department of Justice.
The oversight panel “is concerned that President Biden has compromised [intelligence] sources”, James Comer, its chairman, said.
The US justice department is also reviewing the matter.
Mr Comer, who represents a Kentucky district, has asked the White House to turn over its documents and communications related to the classified materials.
In its request, which is not a legal summons, it also asks for a list of people who had access to the office space, by 24 January.
The president tells reporters he takes “classified material seriously” and the documents were in a locked garage and “not sitting out on the street”
Both batches of files were handed over immediately after they were discovered, Biden’s lawyer says
White House records – including those of the vice-president – must be handed over to the National Archives once an administration ends