The White House is facing questions about whether President Joe Biden now regrets not being more forthcoming about his handling of classified documents.
In the wake of former Vice President Mike Pence’s revelation he discovered classified documents at his Indiana home, NBC News’ Kristen Welker questioned whether the president regretted the handling of his own case.
“When he saw how forthcoming former Vice President Mike Pence was… about the fact that they did find classified documents in his Indiana home, did the president regret not telling the public about this immediately and instead letting it leak in the press?” she asked.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded by pointing to a timeline released by the lawyers about the discovery of classified documents in Biden’s home and private office at the Penn Biden Center.
“And I’m just not going to go beyond what he has said, I’m not going to go beyond what has been shared by his lawyers,” she added.
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She also declined to comment on whether Biden believes he has to address the procedures for handling classified documents.
On Jan. 9, it was reported a U.S. attorney was reviewing roughly 10 classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president found at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C.
Those documents were discovered in November before the midterm election, but their discovery was not publicly known until two months later.
Another batch of documents was found in the garage of the president’s Wilmington, Delaware, home. Those documents were discovered on Dec. 20, 2022.
On Jan. 14, White House lawyer Richard Sauber revealed six documents with classified markings were found in the president’s private library of his Wilmington home. And on Friday, FBI investigators searched the president’s home and found more classified documents, including from his time as a senator.
Biden and former President Donald Trump are both facing special counsel investigations into their handling of classified documents.
And the list of high-profile officials who took classified documents to their homes grew after Pence revealed documents with classified markings were discovered at his Indiana home.
Biden has offered few comments on his handling of classified documents. He told reporters earlier this month he was “surprised” classified documents were at the Penn Biden Center.
But on Thursday, he told reporters he has “no regrets” about how the discovery of the documents was disclosed to the public.
