WhatsNew2Day – Latest News And Breaking Headlines
President Joe Biden has been interviewed as part of an independent investigation into his situation handling secret documentsthe White House said late Monday night.
Spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement that the interview was voluntary and was conducted at the White House on Sunday and Monday. The interview ended Monday, Sams said.
The research is led by special counsel Robert Hurwho was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in January to investigate the improper storage of classified documents at Biden’s Delaware home and a think tank office set up for Biden after his 2009-2017 vice presidency.
Garland was appointed to oversee the politically sensitive issue to avoid conflicts of interest.
Sams reiterated that Biden and the White House are working together. He referred questions to the Ministry of Justice.
The interview could be a signal that the special counsel’s investigation is nearing its end.
President Joe Biden has been interviewed as part of an independent investigation into his handling of classified documents, the White House said late Monday night.
Footage from a Biden campaign video shows him reversing his classic Stingray into his garage. He is seen backing his Corvette into a garage full of papers at his Wilmington home
Investigators from Hur’s office have already cast a wide net in the investigation, interviewing a wide range of witnesses about their knowledge of how classified documents were handled.
“The President was interviewed as part of the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Hur,” the White House said in a statement.
It said the “voluntary interview” with the 80-year-old Democratic president took place at the White House on Sunday and Monday.
“As we have said from the beginning, the President and the White House are cooperating with this investigation,” the report said.
The White House said it was also being “as transparent as we can, consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation.”
The investigation concerns documents found in the possession of Biden, who was vice president under Barack Obama when the papers were removed from the White House.
Data was first unearthed at a private think tank office where the president worked in Washington in November 2022.
More documents were found on December 20 in the president’s garage in Wilmington, Delaware, and on January 12 in his home library.
Biden was interviewed by the special counsel throughout as Israel dealt with the aftermath of a terror attack that left at least 900 dead.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel to investigate classified documents in Biden’s possession
Former President Donald Trump had documents classified at his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, after leaving office in 2021, but after numerous attempts by the National Archives, the DOJ allowed the FBI to search the estate for documents from the White House.
Armed Secret Service agents stand outside an entrance to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022 as FBI agents search for classified documents from the White House
Former President Donald Trump, Biden’s likely Republican opponent in the 2024 election, is being tried separately for allegedly mishandling classified documents after leaving office.
The special prosecutor in that case, Jack Smith, says Trump allegedly took classified documents to his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida and refused to return them.
He pleaded not guilty in June to charges of unlawfully withholding national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.
The prosecutor in that case has asked for a 2024 trial, one of several Trump faces on several charges, including trying to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election, which he lost to Biden.
Republicans have tried to draw parallels between Trump and Biden’s document cases.
Biden’s son Hunter, meanwhile, is facing a new investigation by a special prosecutor into tax fraud and gun possession. He was seen arriving for a court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware last Tuesday
Biden’s son Hunter, meanwhile, is facing a new investigation by a special prosecutor into tax fraud and gun possession.
It is not unprecedented for sitting presidents to be interviewed in criminal investigations.
President George W. Bush participated in a 70-minute interview as part of an investigation into the leak of a CIA agent’s identity.
President Bill Clinton was questioned for more than four hours by independent counsel Kenneth Starr before a federal grand jury in 1998.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team negotiated with lawyers for then-President Donald Trump for an interview, but Trump never participated.
His lawyers instead submitted answers to written questions.