US House Speaker Concerned Over Classified Files Found at Biden Think Tank

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Newly-elected US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has described as "very concerning" the discovery of classified documents taken out of the White House at a think tank office in Washington formerly used by Joe Biden during his time as Vice-President to Barack Obama.

McCarthy said the discovery of documents with classified markings at Biden's office was "very concerning."

"He [Biden] has had these classified, and what has he said about the other president with classified documents?" McCarthy told reporters.

Asked whether the case was different because Biden's lawyers found them and "immediately" handed the materials over, McCarthy said, "Oh, really? They just now found them after all those years."

Biden's lawyers have found about a dozen classified documents belonging in the period of his vice presidency in the Barack Obama administration when they were vacating an office space at Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in November. On Tuesday, the White House admitted that Biden had used the office space for three years.

Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, has been threatened with criminal prosecution for taking classified files from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after his presidency. Biden himself has described the fact that classified papers were at Trump's private residence as "irresponsible."

In August, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence as part of an investigation into misuse of defense information, theft and file destruction and seized nearly a dozen sets of documents, some marked "Top Secret," according to the disclosed search warrant receipt. Trump has denied allegations of storing classified information at his residence and condemned the investigation as being politically motivated to prevent him from running in the 2024 presidential election.