1 year ago
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APTOS, Calif. (AP) — A frustrated President Joe Biden said Thursday determination is “no determination there” erstwhile helium was persistently questioned astir the discovery of classified documents and authoritative records astatine his location and erstwhile office.
“We recovered a fistful of documents were filed successful the incorrect place,” Biden said to reporters who questioned him during a circuit of the harm from storms successful California. “We instantly turned them implicit to the Archives and the Justice Department.”
Biden said helium was “fully cooperating and looking guardant to getting this resolved quickly.”
“I deliberation you’re going to find there’s thing there,” helium said. “There’s nary determination there.”
The White House has disclosed that Biden attorneys recovered classified documents and authoritative records connected 4 occasions successful caller months — connected Nov. 2 astatine the offices of the Penn Biden Center successful Washington, and past successful travel up searches connected Dec. 20 successful the store of the president’s location successful Wilmington, Delaware, and connected Jan. 11 and 12 successful the president’s location library.
The find complicates a national probe into erstwhile President Donald Trump, who the Justice Department says took hundreds of records marked classified with him upon leaving the White House successful aboriginal 2021 and resisted months of requests to instrumentality them to the government.
The 2 cases are different — Biden for example, willingly turned implicit the documents erstwhile found. But the contented is wearing connected the president and his aides, who person repeatedly said they acted swiftly and appropriately erstwhile the documents were discovered, and are moving to beryllium arsenic transparent arsenic imaginable though cardinal questions stay unanswered.
Attorney General Merrick Garland past week appointed Robert Hur, a erstwhile Maryland U.S. attorney, to service arsenic peculiar counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s enquiry into the documents. Garland said the bonzer circumstances warranted a peculiar counsel, and helium besides made the determination successful portion to amusement the Justice Department’s “commitment to some independency and accountability successful peculiarly delicate matters.”
Hur is taking implicit for national authoritative John Lausch, who was initially asked to reappraisal the documents and whose squad has already been interviewing erstwhile Biden aides liable for packing up boxes during his clip arsenic vice president. Those interviews see Kathy Chung, who served arsenic an administrative adjunct during that time, according to a idiosyncratic acquainted with the substance who spoke to The Associated Press connected information of anonymity to sermon an ongoing investigation.
Biden expressed vexation that the documents substance was coming up arsenic helium surveyed coastal tempest damage, telling reporters that it “bugs me” that helium was being asked astir the handling of the classified worldly adjacent arsenic “we person a superior occupation here” successful California.
“Why you don’t inquire maine questions astir that?” helium pressed.
Biden’s squad has faced criticism for its fragmented disclosures — the nationalist wasn’t notified of the documents until aboriginal January and aft that the further findings dripped retired slowly. It has occasionally led to heated exchanges betwixt reporters and White House property caput Karine Jean-Pierre successful the White House briefing room. She ran into occupation erstwhile she suggested past Friday that each documents had been recovered, lone to person an further find disclosed implicit the weekend.
Biden said Thursday helium has “no regrets” implicit however and erstwhile the nationalist learned astir the documents.
“I’m pursuing what the lawyers person told maine they privation maine to do,” helium said.
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Long reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
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