Jeff Clark, former assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice (DOJ), told Steve Bannon on Friday that the classified documents taken from President Joe Biden's home and former office could be "a dagger that could end the Biden presidency."
While speaking on Bannon's War Room, Clark said, "Is Obama friend or foe here? I think it's an important question because I haven't seen anything from Obama defending his former number two. And certainly, you would think one of the go-to defenses if they could pull it out was that somehow Obama had de-classified this stuff. And yet I'm just hearing radio silence on that."
Biden is facing allegations that he may have misplaced or mishandled multiple classified documents while he was vice president under former President Barack Obama. On Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that a special counsel led by U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Robert K. Hur, will investigate Biden's handling of the documents.
"I am confident that Mr. Hur will carry out his responsibility in an even-handed and urgent manner, and in accordance with the highest traditions of this Department," Garland said.
The classified documents found Wednesday at Biden's home were in a locked garage. Meanwhile, an earlier batch of confidential records was found on November 2, 2022, by Biden's attorneys in his former office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement think tank in Washington, D.C. The records initially discovered in the office contained 10 classified documents, including materials related to U.S. intelligence and memos about Ukraine, Iran, and the United Kingdom, CNN reported.
The White House said Biden's lawyers at the time alerted the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) promptly when the documents were discovered. According to The Hill, the White House did not disclose the findings until after it was reported by CBS News earlier this week.
On Saturday, CNN and NBC reported that five additional documents were found on Thursday inside Biden's private residence that had classification markings, according to White House counsel Richard Sauber. This now brings the total number of classified documents found at the president's home to six.
In a statement posted by CNN Anchor Kaitlan Collins, Sauber said, "The DOJ officials with me immediately took possession of them."
“The DOJ officials with me immediately took possession of them,” Sauber says. He also says questions will be referred to the special counsel’s office going forward. (The outside one appointed by Garland, not to be confused with Sauber’s title which is also special counsel.) pic.twitter.com/KzPLHfTsVi
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 14, 2023
"I'm gonna get a chance to speak on all of this, God willing, soon....By the way my Corvette's in a locked garage, OK?" Biden said Thursday in response. "So, it's not like they're sitting in the street. But as I said earlier this week, people know I take classified documents and classified materials seriously."
Former President Donald Trump has been vocal about his criticism about Hur leading the Biden investigation, and took to Truth Social on Saturday morning.
"How come the Biden "Prosecutor" is a nice guy, very friendly with Democrats and RINOS alike, close to Christopher Wray, & pretty much liked & known by everybody, while my "Prosecutor" is a Radical Left Trump hating Lunatic...They are GRILLING innocent people in Grand Juries for hours, all to 'get Trump.' These are Sick Thugs!" Trump wrote.
Trump is also being investigated by the DOJ for keeping hundreds of highly classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. The documents reportedly included classified materials regarding nuclear weapons, and were taken by the FBI during a raid at Trump's residence last August that Garland approved. Trump has maintained his innocence, however, and said that he declassified the documents before leaving the White House.
Political analyst Craig Agranoff told Newsweek on Saturday, "It's usually a partisan divide. When they found documents at Trump's residence, Dems were calling for him to go to jail. When Biden gets caught, they seem to expect kindness and understanding."
He added: "The same would be if the roles were reversed. It is important to note that the handling of classified information is a complex issue and there may be multiple factors at play, and it is ultimately up to the appropriate authorities to investigate and make determinations about potential violations."
Agranoff concluded saying that if Biden is found to have mishandled classified information, "it will likely be a serious issue and have negative implications for his reputation and ability to govern effectively."
Update 1/14/2023, 12:27 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information regarding the classified documents.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Anna Commander is a Newsweek Editor and writer based in Florida. Her focus is reporting on crime, weather and breaking ... Read more
