Was unaware about the presence of classified documents in private office, says Biden

US President Joe Biden responded to the discovery of classified documents from his time as Vice President in a private office Tuesday. He said 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.

Biden hadused the Washington DC office during his time as an honorary professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He stressed he does not know about the contents of the documents. His White House legal team has also said that they do not know what’s contained in the classified documents.

However, according to a CNN report, the classified documents include US intelligence memos and briefing materials on Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom.

A source told CNN that Biden didn't know about the documents being in his office until the time they were discovered and his personal lawyers informed the White House counsel’s office about them. The lack on informationabout the what's in the documents stems from the fact that the president’s team doesn't want to appear as if they are interfering given the Justice Department is still scrutinizing the matter.

The materials were discovered in November at a Washington, DC-based office, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, while it was being closed. The counsel’s office later notified the National Archives and Records Administration.

The White House said that Biden’s lawyers gave the documents to the National Archives the very next day. The matter is being reviewed by the US attorney in Chicago and the lawyers are cooperating with the investigation.

“People know I take classified documents, classified information seriously,” Biden said. He further said that the documents were found in “a box, locked cabinet – or at least a closet.”

CNN had earlier reported that under a dozen documents were found. As per law, official documents and classified records need to be returned by a federal official once their service ends. Some top-secret files with the “sensitive compartmented information” designation, also known as SCI, were reportedly part of the discovery.

(With inputs from agencies)

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