President Joe Biden was interviewed as part of an independent investigation into his handling of classified documentsthe White House said late Monday night.
Spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement that the interview was voluntary and conducted at the White House on Sunday and Monday. The interview concluded on Monday, Sams said.
The investigation is led by special counsel Robert Hurwho was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in January to investigate the improper storage of classified documents at Biden’s Delaware home and a think tank office set up for Biden after his 2009-2017 vice presidency.
Garland was appointed to oversee the politically sensitive matter to avoid conflicts of interest.
Sams reiterated that Biden and the White House are working together. He referred questions to the Department of Justice.
The interview may signal that the special counsel investigation is nearing its end.
President Joe Biden was questioned as part of an independent investigation into his handling of classified documents, the White House said late Monday night
Footage from a Biden campaign video shows him backing up his classic Stingray in his garage. He is seen driving his Corvette into a garage full of papers at his home in Wilmington
Investigators with Hur’s office have already cast a wide net in the investigation, interviewing a wide range of witnesses about their knowledge of how classified documents were handled.
“The president was interviewed as part of the investigation led by special counsel Robert Hur,” the White House said in a statement.
It said the “voluntary interview” with the 80-year-old Democratic president took place at the White House on Sunday and Monday.
“As we have said from the beginning, the president and the White House are cooperating with this investigation,” it said.
The White House said it was also “as transparent as we can be consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation.”
The investigation involves documents found in the possession of Biden, who was vice president under Barack Obama when the papers were removed from the White House.
Records were first unearthed in a private think tank office where the president worked in November 2022 in Washington.
More documents were found in the president’s garage in Wilmington, Delaware on December 20 and in his home library on January 12.
Biden was interviewed by the special counsel as Israel dealt with the aftermath of a terrorist attack that left at least 900 dead
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate classified documents in Biden’s possession
Former President Donald Trump had classified documents at his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida after he left office in 2021, but after numerous attempts by the National Archives, the DOJ allowed the FBI to search the estate for White House documents. searched.
Armed Secret Service agents stand outside an entrance to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022 as FBI agents search for classified documents taken from the White House
Former President Donald Trump, Biden’s likely Republican opponent in the 2024 election, is on trial separately over the alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office.
The special counsel in that case, Jack Smith, says Trump allegedly took classified documents to his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida and refused to return them.
He pleaded not guilty in June to charges of illegally retaining national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.
Prosecutors in that case had asked for a 2024 trial, one of a number Trump faces on various charges that include trying to change the outcome of the 2020 election, which he lost to Biden. to reverse.
Republicans have tried to draw parallels between the Trump and Biden dossier cases.
Biden’s son Hunter, meanwhile, faces another special counsel investigation into tax fraud and gun ownership. He is seen arriving for a court appearance last Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware
Meanwhile, Biden’s son Hunter faces another special counsel charge for tax fraud and gun possession.
It is not unheard of for sitting presidents to be questioned in criminal investigations.
President George W. Bush sat for a 70-minute interview as part of an investigation into the leaking of the identity of a CIA agent.
In 1998, President Bill Clinton underwent more than four hours of questioning from independent counsel Kenneth Starr before a federal grand jury.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team negotiated with lawyers for then-President Donald Trump for an interview, but Trump never sat for one.
Instead, his lawyers submitted answers to written questions.