First Trump and Mar-a-Lago, and now Biden is facing backlash. The discovery of classified documents by personal lawyers for President Joe Biden inside his former office and Delaware home in November has sparked an ongoing investigation by the Justice Department. The White House publicly acknowledged the federal review this week. It has been reported that Biden’s attorneys found “a small number” of documents with classified markings “in a locked closet” on November 2, when the lawyers were packing up the office that Biden “periodically used” at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C.

These latest developments have led to comparisons with the FBI’s recovery of highly classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump had also made unsupported claims that China “saw” Biden’s documents and funded the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, where Biden’s office was located.

“I find it funny when people on the right wing of the [political] spectrum started to throw a tantrum about the FBI and how they are in some secret scheme to overthrow Trump as they were searching Trump’s house for classified documents, yet less than 5 months later, FBI agents would go into Biden’s house and search for classified documents that he took…it’s just the FBI doing its job. They aren’t being used in a political scheme by one party, or one specific group,” said sophomore Youngjun Chang.

According to sources, the “roughly 10 documents” were in a folder that was in a box with other unclassified papers, and it has been reported that the documents “did not contain nuclear secrets.” President Biden has said that he does not know what is in the documents and that he “was surprised to learn there were any government records that were taken there to that office.”

After discovering the documents, Biden’s attorneys immediately notified the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which took possession of the documents the next morning. NARA then notified the Justice Department, and Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch to review the documents and investigate how they ended up at the Penn Biden Center. The investigation will determine whether to launch a criminal investigation and appoint a special counsel to oversee the review.

“Given the present circumstances with searches being made on Biden, Trump, and Pence, it makes me wonder how many other presidents and vice presidents have undiscovered classified documents,” said sophomore Ashley Dong.

It was also reported on Jan. 11 that Biden aides found “at least one additional batch of classified documents” in a different location when doing a search for any other such materials. 

In a statement released on Jan. 12, Sauber said that after finding classified documents at the Penn Biden Center last fall, Biden’s lawyers also searched his homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, for additional records.

“During the review, the lawyers discovered among personal and political papers a small number of additional Obama-Biden Administration records with classified markings,” Sauber wrote. “All but one of these documents were found in storage space in the President’s Wilmington residence garage. One document containing one page was discovered among stored materials in an adjacent room. No documents were found in the Rehoboth Beach residence.”

“Members of both parties should focus on protecting national security and not just making their parties look better. It is irresponsible for a vice president to keep confidential documents in his locked garage alongside his corvette. I think any politician who violates these security policies should be reprimanded in any way that the law permits so national security remains more secure,” said sophomore Tamas Smulovics.

The investigation into the discovery of classified documents in President Biden’s possession is ongoing, and the implications of this situation are yet to be fully understood. The discovery of classified documents in former President Trump’s possession led to a criminal investigation, and it remains to be seen whether the same fate will befall President Biden as he attempts to distance himself from the investigation.