Biden describes classified files found at his home, office as likely 'stray papers' from 1974

President Biden has been circumspect in his comments about classified documents found in an office he used after his vice presidency and at his Delaware home, saying he has been advised against saying anything that may affect a federal investigation into the documents. Biden repeated that disclaimer in an interview with PBS NewsHour's Judy Woodruff on Wednesday, but he did provide some clues as to what his lawyers and the FBI found in his old files.
"The best of my knowledge, the kind of things they picked up are things that — from 1974, stray papers," Biden said near the end of a 20-minute interview in DeForest, Wisconsin. "There may be something else, I don't know." The public assumption has been that the classified papers date from his time as vice president, from 2009 to 2017, but he was two years into his first term in the Senate in 1974.
As to how classified documents ended up in his home and office, Biden said the people who packed up his vice presidential office "didn't do the kind of job that should've been done, to go thoroughly through every single piece of literature that's there." Unlike former President Donald Trump, Biden "volunteered to open every single aperture" to the FBI, he said. When Woodruff asked about his comment that Trump was "reckless" with classified documents, Biden noted the top secret markings on the files the FBI recovered from his Mar-a-Lago office and storage room.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
July 8 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include a Trump disappearing act, trade talk uncertainty, and Elon Musk's many injuries
-
Entente cordiale: will state visit help UK-French relations get over Brexit?
Today's Big Question The King, a keen Francophile who has a warm relationship with Emmanuel Macron, will play a key role in state visit
-
Israel's plan for confining all Palestinians in 'humanitarian city'
The Explainer Defence minister wants to establish zone in Gaza for displaced people – which they would not be allowed to leave – prompting accusations of war crimes
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami