Second batch of classified documents found at Joe Biden's home in Delaware
12 January 2023, 17:51 | Updated: 12 January 2023, 18:50
A set of classified documents have been found in the garage of the US president's home in Delaware, the White House has announced.
It comes days after the White House announced that a "small number" of classified documents were found last November in an office used by Joe Biden after he left the vice presidency in 2017.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of the documents.
After the first announcement, Mr Biden said he was "surprised to learn" of the documents' existence, a matter which remains under review by the US Department of Justice.
Addressing the second discovery, Mr Biden said: “I’m going to get a chance to speak on all this, God willing, soon.
“People know I take classified documents and classified material seriously. I also said we’re cooperating fully and completely with the justice department’s review.”
The matter has sparked controversy in the US as White House records must be turned over to the US National Archives after an administration's time in office.
The first set of documents that were found in November relate to Mr Biden's time as Vice President, though the nature of the second set is unclear.
Mr Biden's aides have been looking through documents at other locations beyond his former Washington office to see whether there are more classified documents that need to be turned over, a source told NBC news.
Former President Donald Trump's is currently under investigation after hundreds of secret papers were found at his Florida estate.
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The president’s special counsel Richard Sauber said: “Following the discovery of government documents at the Penn Biden Center in November 2022, and coordinating closely with the Department of Justice, the President’s lawyers have searched the President’s Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, residences – the other locations where files from his Vice-Presidential office might have been shipped in the course of the 2017 transition.
"The lawyers completed that review last night.
“During the review, the lawyers discovered among personal and political papers a small number of additional Obama-Biden Administration records with classified markings.
"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.
"No documents were found in the Rehoboth Beach residence.”
