FLASHBACK: Biden slammed Trump as 'irresponsible' over his handling of classified documents
Before President Biden was caught storing classified documents at Penn Biden Center, he slammed former President Trump for doing the same at Mar-a-Lago.
Before the White House admitted that classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center, President Biden lambasted his predecessor over his possession of such sensitive records.
During an interview on "60 Minutes" from September, Biden was asked about the viral photograph of top secret documents spread across the floor by the FBI following the raid of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
"When you saw the photograph of the top secret documents laid out on the floor at Mar-a-Lago, what did you think to yourself looking at that image?" CBS' Scott Pelley asked.
"How that could possibly happen, how one anyone could be that irresponsible," Biden responded. "And I thought what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods. By that, I mean, names of people helped or et cetera."
"And it's just totally irresponsible," Biden added.
President Biden blasted former President Trump for his "irresponsible" handling of classified documents during an interview on "60 Minutes" in September 2022. (Screenshot/CBS News)
Trump's possession of classified documents is being investigated by Special Counsel Jack Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland after the former president announced his 2024 candidacy.
However, it appears Biden, too, had classified documents from his tenure as vice president in his possession.
A batch of records, including a "small number of documents with classified markings," were discovered at the Penn Biden Center by the president's personal attorneys on Nov. 2, according to Richard Saubel, special counsel to the White House.
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The attorneys found the documents in a locked closet while preparing to vacate office space at the center, which the president used from mid-2017 until he began the 2020 campaign.
The National Archives were notified of the finding and took possession of the documents on Nov. 3, 2022, Saubel said.
Former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort was raided by the FBI in August 2022 over his possession of classified documents. (Charles Trainor Jr./Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
"The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the Archives," Saubel said in a statement. "Since that discover, the President's personal attorneys have cooperated with he Archives and the Department of Justice in process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives."
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AG Garland appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch to review the matter, according to CBS News, who first reported on the documents' discovery on Monday.
Under the Presidential Records Act, all documents from a president's administration and staff must be turned over to the National Archives.
President Biden is under fire for allegedly having classified documents stored at his think tank Penn Biden Center in the years following his vice presidency. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said that he will send a letter to the National Archives and White House counsel seeking information about the documents that were seized from the Penn Biden Center.
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"Under the Biden Administration, the Department of Justice and National Archives have made compliance with the Presidential Records Act a top priority," Comer said in a statement. "We expect the same treatment for President Biden, who has apparently inappropriately maintained classified documents in an insecure setting for several years."
Fox News' Paul Best contributed to this report.
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