Former President Barack Obama REFUSES To Say If He Is Searching For Classified Documents Still In His Possession
Jan. 25 2023, Published 8:05 a.m. ET
Former President Barack Obama refused to say whether he is currently searching for classified documents potentially still in his personal possession, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In the latest development to come after it was revealed earlier this month that President Joe Biden was still in possession of classified documents from his time as Obama’s vice president, many Americans started to wonder what other current and former top White House officials are also still in possession of classified materials.
On Tuesday, after it was revealed a cache of classified files was recovered from former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home, Fox News pressed Obama’s communications director – Hannah Hankins – whether the former president is now also searching his personal residences.
“We have nothing for you at this time,” Hankins told the conservative news network.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the discovery and recovery of classified documents found in President Biden’s possession after five separate searches has created a scandal regarding the handling of classified materials by government officials.
According to Daily Mail, the discovery of classified materials in Biden’s possession has also jeopardized the ongoing federal investigation into former President Donald Trump and his allegedly illegal hoarding of classified documents at his Palm Beach, Florida Mar-a-Lago resort after leaving the White House in January 2021.
“Politically it has effectively let former President Donald J. Trump off the hook for hoarding secret papers,” chief White House correspondent for The New York Times Peter Baker recently wrote.
Just three months after Trump’s Palm Beach resort was raided by the FBI on August 8, 2022, Biden’s personal lawyers discovered at least ten classified documents in the current president’s office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C. on November 2.
In the weeks following the initial discovery, four additional searches of Biden’s residences – including his home in Wilmington, Delaware – resulted in the discovery and recovery of dozens of additional classified documents.
Although the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland have since launched a federal probe into Biden’s allegedly illegal mishandling of classified docs, Trump has used the scandal to downplay his own allegedly illegal behavior.
According to Trump, he is “being persecuted” by a “Trump-deranged” special prosecutor for his possession of classified materials while President Biden “is being given white-glove treatment.”
Stanley Brand, a Washington, D.C. lawyer who previously served as general counsel to the House of Representatives, recently indicated that the DOJ’s investigations into both Trump and Biden could provide Trump the ammunition to challenge the ongoing investigation into him.
“There is also the issue of selective prosecution: treating similar cases differently based on a suspect classification or criteria,” said Brand. “I would allege that as an appointee of the president, [Garland] is conflicted.”
“A conflict that can't be resolved by the appointment of a special counsel, since under the D.O.J. regulation he retains ultimate responsibility,” Brand added.