A US Department of Justice report said that President Joe Biden “intentionally” kept and disclosed highly classified materials, including documents on military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other sensitive national security matters, adding that there was, however, no justification for bringing criminal charges against him.
Special Counsel Robert Hoare’s report, issued on Thursday, represents a strongly worded critical assessment of Biden’s careless handling of sensitive government documents, but it also made clear the reasons why he should not be charged with a crime.
The report is likely to diminish Biden’s ability to convict Donald Trump, Biden’s potential rival in the November presidential election, in a criminal indictment accusing the former president of illegally storing secret records at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
The Associated Press quoted Robert Hoare: “Our investigations revealed evidence that President Biden deliberately kept secret materials, then disclosed them after assuming the position of Vice President.”
This came after a year-long investigation into Biden’s keeping of secret documents, from when he was a senator and vice president, which were found in his home in Delaware, as well as in a private office he used between his period of service in the Obama administration and his assumption of the presidency.
The investigation into Biden is separate from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents after he left the White House.
While Smith’s team accused Trump of keeping – in violation of the law – top-secret records at his Mar-a-Lago home, and then obstructing government efforts to recover them, Trump said he had done nothing wrong.
