Trump Responds to Discovery of Documents at Biden’s Former Office, Says They Were ‘Definitely Not Declassified’

Former US President Donald Trump speaks in Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 15, 2022. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Former President Trump has responded to news that classified documents were found at a Washington think tank that President Joe Biden worked at before taking office.

Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to comment on the discovery on Monday where he referenced the FBI’s raid of his Mar-a-Lago residence last August, during which investigators said they seized over 11,000 documents and materials, including around 100 documents marked classified or top secret.

Trump, who has said he declassified the materials when he left office, is currently being investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) over his handling of the documents.

Although the special counsel Jack Smith-led DOJ investigation claims Trump violated a number of laws, including removing and retaining classified documents without authorization, he has not been charged with any crime.

“When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified,” Trump wrote.

President Joe Biden speaks during a cabinet meeting in the White House in Washington on Jan. 5, 2023. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Biden’s Lawyer Confirms Document Discovery

A lawyer for the White House, Richard Sauber, confirmed on Monday that the documents with classified markings were found inside a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington; where Biden had used the office space from mid-2017 until the start of his 2020 presidential campaign.

Sauber said the documents from Biden’s vice-presidential days were found on Nov. 2, 2022, just days before the midterm election but the lawyer did not disclose the finding until Jan. 9, 2023.

According to the lawyer, Biden’s attorneys immediately notified the White House Counsel’s office, who in turn notified the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which took possession of the material on the following day.

It is unclear how many classified documents were found, what they contain, or their level of classification.

Sauber added that attorneys for Biden found the classified documents while they were “packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space” at the Penn Biden Center and that they were “not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the Archives.”

“Since that discovery, the President’s personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives,” Sauber said.

The discovery of the classified documents comes as Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives and have vowed to probe Biden and his alleged involvement in his son Hunter Biden’s overseas business ventures.

GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy commented on the findings on Monday. “I just think it goes to prove what they tried to do to President Trump, overplayed their hand on that, that they even had themselves even longer,” he told reporters in reference to the Biden administration, Fox News reported.

“They’ve been around even longer,” he said. “It just shows that they were trying to be political to President Trump.”

Law enforcement officers in front of former President Donald Trump's home at Mar-A-Lago in Florida on Aug. 8, 2022. Trump says his residence is being "raided" by FBI agents in what he calls an act of "prosecutorial misconduct." Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images

‘I Have a Feeling Nothing Will Happen’

Elsewhere, Donald Trump Jr. also took to Twitter to weigh in on the latest discovery.

“We were told for months that this was treasonous… grounds for impeachment... & meriting the death penalty, yet I have a feeling nothing will happen!?,” he wrote.

By law, presidential and vice presidential records must be turned over to the NARA for preservation when a president leaves office.

In August, the president was asked by reporters if he feels it is ever appropriate for a President to take classified and top secret documents home with them, to which he responded that it depended on the circumstance.

“For example, I have, in my home, a cabined-off space that is completely secure.  I’m taking home with me today’s PDB [presidential briefing].  It’s locked. I have a person with me—the military with me. I read it, I lock it back up, and give it to the military,” Biden said at the time.

Biden then went on to add that whether or not a president should take home top secret documents depends on the document and how secure the room is.

In September, Biden called Trump’s handling of classified documents “totally irresponsible.”

The Penn Biden Center, NARA, the FBI, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Zachary Stieber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.