Philip Wegmann for RealClearPolitics
Shortly after the White House announced that a second set of classified Obama administration documents had been found at the president’s home in Delaware — and just after Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of a second special counsel to investigate misplaced classified presidential documents Before — Joe Biden tried to appease the country by telling reporters that sensitive documents were locked behind doors.
“Yeah, and my Corvette,” Biden told Fox News’ Peter Ducey, referring to his beloved 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.
At the Justice Department, Garland announced he had assigned U.S. Attorney John Lausch Jr. to conduct a preliminary investigation and advise him on the need for a special counsel.
“I have chosen him for the initial investigation as I am confident that his experience will ensure that the investigation is completed professionally and expeditiously,” he said.
“Based on Mr. Lausch’s preliminary investigation, I have concluded that, under the Special Counsel’s Provisions, it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel,” the attorney general concluded.
The White House has not said who other than Biden himself had access to the documents found in Delaware or the classified intelligence found at the Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Pennsylvania.
But his son, Hunter Biden, is under federal criminal investigation for tax fraud and House Republicans plan to subpoena him over his foreign business dealings, but he does have access to the garage. At least, according to Biden’s earlier statements.
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As Vice President in 2016, Biden appeared in the season premiere of CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage” with his Corvette. Showing off the classic wedding present from his father, Biden told Leno that his sons had restored the car to showroom condition.
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“My two sons Beau passed away and my son Hunter decided to rebuild the engine for me as a Christmas present,” he explained.
Despite the administration’s commitment to transparency, the White House has yet to answer questions about how classified intelligence got into Biden’s home in Delaware or the president’s private office at the Biden Center in Pennsylvania in Washington, D.C.
“This is again an ongoing process. We will respect the process,” Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday. “As the president said, his team handled it the right way, we just don’t get ahead of the process from here.”
Biden did keep his Corvette at his home in Wilmington. During his second appearance on the show in 2022, he told Leno that since the Secret Service doesn’t allow the sitting president to drive his own car, “every once in a while, I’ll take the Corvette out of the garage and up and down the road.”
Due to the president’s own words, the Corvette and classified documents are temporarily linked. At the White House on Thursday, Biden said again that he takes sensitive intelligence “very seriously.”
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“As I said earlier this week, by the way, my Corvette is in a locked garage, so it’s not like they’re sitting on the street,” he continued, referring to the documents.
“People know that I take classified documents and classified material seriously,” the president added. “I also said we were cooperating, fully cooperating with the DOJ review.”
Controversy will continue as Republicans speak out and accuse the Justice Department of “double standards,” referring to how former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was raided by armed FBI agents looking for classified information file. Unlike Trump, Biden voluntarily turned over the documents to the National Archives shortly after they were discovered, according to the White House.
Syndicated under license from RealClearWire.
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