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WASHINGTON (AP) — Prominent Democrats, dismayed by the steady stream of disclosures about confidential documents found in President Joe Biden’s homes and offices, are expressing criticism of the way the president is handling the matter and disappointment that the White House has not been more forthcoming with the public.
The lawmakers likely anticipated questions centered on the debt limit or aid to Ukraine when they were booked last week for the Sunday news shows, but were instead met with questions about the documents.
During a search Friday of Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, the FBI found additional documents labeled confidential and took possession of some of his handwritten notes, the president’s attorney said Saturday.
Biden should be “embarrassed by the situation,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranked Democrat in the Senate, adding that the president had given up the moral high ground on an issue that has already embroiled former President Donald Trump. Special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland are investigating both cases.
“Well, of course. Let’s be honest about it. When information is found, it diminishes the stature of anyone in possession of it because it’s not supposed to happen… The elected official bears the ultimate responsibility,” Durbin said.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Biden “should have a lot of regrets… He might as well say, ‘Listen, he’s irresponsible.'” The president told reporters Thursday that he “had no regrets” about how and when the public learned of the documents and that “there was nothing there.”
Despite his criticism, Biden’s fellow Democrats defended what they said was his cooperation with the Justice Department as the search for additional classified material unfolds. They contrasted it with Trump’s resistance to efforts to recover hundreds of documents after he left office.
“It’s outrageous that either of those things happened,” Durbin said. “But the reaction of the previous president and the current one could not be in greater contrast.”
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Seung Min Kim reported in Rehoboth, Delaware.
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