Democrats are becoming increasingly critical of President Biden’s handling of classified documents. Their statements came after the Justice Department searched President Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware Friday and found six more documents. Some were from his eight years as vice president while others went all the way back to his time as a senator.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said it’s “unacceptable” and that Biden should be “embarrassed.”
“When that information is found it diminishes the stature of any person who is in possession of it. Because it’s not supposed to happen. Whether it was the fault of a staffer or attorney makes no difference. The elected official bears ultimate responsibility,” Durbin said on CNN’s State of the Union.
But Democrats are still supportive of the president’s response. They said he has been more transparent and more cooperative than former President Trump, who defied a subpoena for documents at his Florida home.
“President Biden is someone who respects the rule of law, who respects the importance of classified documents, and that this was a consensual search. That the Department of Justice was invited to come to his home and to search every nook and cranny, top to bottom, to find anything they possibly could,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said on ABC’s This Week.
The senators explained that when they view classified information, they do it in a locked room or SCIF (secure compartmented information facility) and can’t take anything with them when they leave. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed special counsels to investigate both the Biden and Trump cases.
“I think that Merrick Garland did the right thing by putting the special counsel, and I think that we should wait until the special counsel, rather than making this a political circus, let them find out the facts. What one was more damaging? Are they both about the same, did not cause any problem? Or is one more reckless and irresponsible than the other?” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., said on Meet the Press.
In addition to the special counsel, President Biden is also being investigated by the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee. Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., put in an official request with the Secret Service to hand over all the information it has about visitors to the Biden’s Wilmington residence by Feb. 6.
