President Biden made a stunning revelation Thursday after it was disclosed that the second batch of classified documents was discovered inside his Wilmington, Delaware, admitting that he did indeed store the nation’s top secret information “locked up” in his garage alongside his beloved classic Corvette.
After touting the slight decrease of annual inflation in the latest December Consumer Price Index report, Biden took a question from the screaming White House press corps where he sparred with Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy regarding the newly announced discovery location of the document files.
“Classified materials next to your Corvette? What were you thinking? Doocy asked Biden.
“By the way my Corvette is in a locked garage. Ok? So it’s not like they’re sitting out on the street,” Biden said in response, brushing off the significance of the discovery and security concerns regarding the classified materials.
“So, it was in a locked garage?” Doocey pressed the president.
“Yes, as well as my Corvette,” Biden admitted. “But as I said earlier this week, people know I take classified documents and classified material seriously. I also said we’re cooperating fully and completely with the Justice Department’s review.”
“As part of that process, my lawyers reviewed other places where documents might — from my time as vice president — were stored and they finished the review last night. They discovered a small number of documents with classified markings in storage areas and file cabinets in my home and my personal library,” Biden insisted.
Moments before Biden made the jaw-dropping revelation, White House special counsel Richard Sauber released a statement confirming a second batch of classified documents were discovered at a second location, revealing the initial garage location disclosure.
“Following the discovery of government documents at the Penn Biden Center in November 2022, and coordinating closely with the Department of Justice, the President’s lawyers have searched the President’s Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, residences – the other locations where files from his Vice-Presidential office might have been shipped in the course of the 2017 transition. The lawyers completed that review last night,” Sauber said.
“During the review, the lawyers discovered among personal and political papers a small number of additional Obama-Biden Administration records with classified markings. All but one of these documents were found in storage space in the President’s Wilmington residence garage. One document consisting of one page was discovered among stored materials in an adjacent room. No documents were found in the Rehoboth Beach residence,” Sauber added.
It is currently unclear how many documents are in the new batch and what they were about.
Biden, a staunch critic of Trump berated his predecessor as “totally irresponsible” over his handling of documents in an interview with 60 Minutes last September. However, weeks after the interview, which was unknown to the American public at such time, Biden’s personal lawyers found classified documents on November 2, 2022 stashed in a locked closet in his private office at his thinktank — The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. The classified documents dated between 2013 to 2016 with some of the classified markings marked as “Top Secret” and also include intelligence memos and materials related to Iran, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. According to reports, the discovery of 10 documents with classified markings were mixed in with Biden’s personal family papers, including details of the Biden’s late son Beau funeral arrangement.
The car in question is Biden’s beloved classic green 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray convertible, reported a wedding gift from his father. It is considered “one of the most desirable classic cars out there” and was once featured in Jay Leno’s CNBC show “Jay Leno’s Garage” in 2016 while Biden was Vice President. That same car was also used for Biden’s 2020 campaign video, a clip that shows boxes stacked in the back of Biden’s Wilmington residence garage, the same place where the classified documents were unearthed by his lawyers. The video shows Biden backing his Corvette into his garage with boxes piled against the wall. While its unknown at this time if those boxes did contain the newly discovered documents given investigators have yet to establish exact chain of custody surrounding the trove, Biden admission seemed to confirm that both his beloved Corvertte and the information were stored in the “locked garage.”
Biden’s acknowledgment comes as Attorney General Merrick Garland weighs whether to appoint a special counsel to examine whether the president committed a potential crime in mishandling classified Obama-era documents after he left office as Vice President nearly 7 years ago. Garland has already appointed a special counsel to investigate former President Donald Trump allegeded mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, which led to a FBI raid of the private estate.
Biden Classified DocumentsClassified DocumentsCorvetteDonald TrumpMar-a-LagoPeter DoocyPresident BidenRichard SauberWhite HouseWhite House NewsWilmington
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