Biden's legal team finds another batch of classified documents during a search

In what is turning into an embarrassment for US President Joe Biden, his aides have found another batch of classified government records at a second location. In November, his legal team had discovered some documents from the time he was vice president at the Penn Biden Center, a think tank he used during his time as an honorary professor at the University of Pennsylvania. The matter came to light this week.

The US Department of Justice is currently reviewing the matter after his aides turned everything in to the National Archives and Records Administration.

It isn't known where or when the additional documents were discovered. As per law, official documents and classified records need to be returned by a federal official once their service ends.

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About the first set of documents, CNN had reported that they included US intelligence memos and briefing materials on Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom. The matter is being reviewed by the US attorney in Chicago and the lawyers are cooperating with the investigation.

The White House has not yet commented on the fresh discovery. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to answer questions about the first set of files during her daily press briefing earlier on Wednesday.

"This is under review by the Department of Justice" she said. "I'm not going to go beyond what the president shared yesterday."

On Tuesday, Biden had spoken up about the first discovery, saying that he did not know that government records had been taken to his private office after he had left public service.

“I was surprised to learn there were any government records that were taken there to that office,” Biden said in Mexico City, where he was attending a trilateral summit with the Mexican president and the Canadian prime minister.

People in the know say that once the first set of documents were found, a search was launched to see whether there were more such documents and would be of interest to federal officials. This effort led to the discovery of the fresh batch of documents.

Republicans are in the majority now in the US House of Representatives, opening doors for the scrutiny of Biden and other Democrats.

"Now that Democrats no longer have one-party rule in Washington, oversight and accountability are coming," James Comer, the new chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on Wednesday.

Investigations are being launched into the president and his family by the committee. A request has also been initiated for the White House to turn over documents and communications related to the classified files.

(With inputs from agencies)

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