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The pressure on US President Joe Biden is increasing: in their search for government documents, detectives have come across other secret documents in his house. In Wilmington, Delaware, the US Justice Department seized, among other things, six documents that were marked confidential, Biden’s lawyer Bob Bauer announced on Saturday. Some of it came from Biden’s time as vice president, others from his time as a senator. The nearly 13-hour house search was carried out on Friday and included “all work, living and storage areas” in the home.

In recent weeks, confidential documents have repeatedly surfaced in Biden’s private rooms – in Delaware and the US capital of Washington. The public only found out about some of the finds when the media reported them. Attorney General Merrick Garland hired special counsel to investigate the incidents. The US government is trying to limit the damage after criticism of its information policy.

Biden’s attorney now emphasized that detectives had “unrestricted access” to the home during Friday’s search. All kinds of documents such as handwritten notes, binders, binders, memorabilia, to-do lists and schedules, some dating back decades, were made available. Biden himself was not at home during the search, but lawyers from his team were. They volunteered to search. Biden made it clear Thursday that he was “fully cooperating” with the Justice Department. However, he downplayed the importance of the events: “I think you will see that there is nothing,” he said when questioned by reporters.

The revelations are extremely politically sensitive for the president – as he is not allowed to privately store confidential government documents after leaving office. In the US, the National Archives are responsible for this. Biden served as deputy to then-President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, before that he was a senator for a long time.

The first tranche of confidential documents was discovered on November 2 – shortly before the US congressional elections. The White House emphasizes that Biden’s lawyers immediately informed the National Archives. However, the public did not find out until January when the broadcaster CBS reported on it. In response to the initial discovery, Biden’s associates then looked elsewhere.

The discovery of documents is also explosive for Biden because former Republican President Donald Trump caused a scandal in the summer with a similar case: Trump kept large amounts of confidential government documents on his private estate in Florida after leaving the White House. The FBI raided the property in August and seized thousands of documents, including about 100 classified documents. Trump tried to thwart the investigation and spoke of a witch hunt against him. Biden sharply criticized Trump.

Trump to Biden: It’s Your Own Fault

In Trump’s case, Garland also assigned an independent special investigator to the politically sensitive investigations — also because Trump announced a renewed candidacy for president and criticized the investigations against him as politically motivated. Biden has also repeatedly expressed his general intention to re-run in the 2024 presidential election. He has not yet made a final decision public.

Trump responded cheerfully on Saturday. On his online platform “Truth Social,” he wrote to Biden and his team: “You yourself caused this document chaos by firing at me so hard – I did nothing wrong.”

Republicans took control of the House of Representatives earlier this year, and several committees there have launched parliamentary inquiries into Biden’s documents, including the body responsible for overseeing the government. The Republican chairman, James Comer, had accused the administration of a lack of transparency and hypocrisy.

Criticism also came from within its own ranks. Democrat Joe Manchin, who has repeatedly opposed Biden as a senator, said of the finds on US television on Sunday: “It’s unbelievable how something like this can happen and it’s completely irresponsible.” One should now await the results of the investigation and not condemn Biden in advance. (sda/dpa)