US intelligence materials related to Ukraine, Iran and UK found in Biden's private office (sources)

[News Junkie]

Source: CNN

Exclusive: US intelligence materials related to Ukraine, Iran and UK found in Biden’s private office, source tells CNN


Among the items from Joe Biden’s time as vice president discovered in a private office last fall are 10 classified documents including US intelligence memos and briefing materials that covered topics including Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has received a preliminary report on the documents inquiry, a law enforcement source said, and now faces the critical decision on how to proceed, including whether to open a full-blown criminal investigation.

The documents were dated between 2013 and 2016, according to the source familiar. They were found in three or four boxes also containing unclassified papers that fall under the Presidential Records Act.

The vast majority of the items in the office contained personal Biden family documents, including materials about Beau Biden’s funeral arrangements and condolence letters, the source told CNN. It is not clear if the boxes with classified documents contained personal materials.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/10/politics/biden-classified-documents-iran-ukraine-united-kingdom-beau-funeral/index.html

---

Ukraine? The talking heads will have a field day with this.

[NoRethugFriends]

1. Good job not adding the context

[dem4decades]

2. Oh for fuck's sake, Ukraine? Here we go.

[certainot]

22. sources!?

[dem4decades]

26. Seriously? It was in the OP.

[certainot]

32. i wasn't clear - i was agreeing - who are the 'sources' referred to...... "the source said"

[maxsolomon]

3. Any case against Trump based on his wholesale theft of Presidential Records is now dead.

If there was ever going to be one, which I doubt.

This may well be what the House chooses to impeach Biden over. They have no shame.

[emulatorloo]

4. Biden turned them over immediately. Ex-President Trump not so much.

Apples and Oranges.

[infullview]

6. This isn't stopping the MSM from running with this as the lead top breaking story...

They make it sound like it's on par with tRump and the same kind crime. Repukes own corporate media and they will beat this to death.

[emulatorloo]

12. Happily, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith doesn't give a shit about corporate media 'spin' or false

Equivalence.

[maxsolomon]

13. Smithmas is coming, just like Fitzmas before it!

Not to mention Mueller Time.

Keep the faith, DU!

[emulatorloo]

15. Fitzmas was more or less fabricated by a blogger. '24 business hours' lol.

Neither Smith nor his track record are fabrications.

Mueller was sabotaged and lied about by Trump’s Bill Barr. There’s no Bill Barr now.

Once again, Apples and Oranges. Both tasty fruits but not the same thing.

Link to tweet

Back to the point, if you wanna believe a career prosecutor is swayed by media false equivalencies, knock yourself out!

[Rebl2]

17. Exactly

They had to negotiate and after a year of him not allowing them to be taken, subpoena to get them back and an fbi raid. I still say the ones found in the box of Biden’s papers were planted there by some trump loving FBI agent.

[EndlessWire]

39. I agree with maxsolomon.

I don't know that I am not suspicious of this whole turn of events. I don't generally fall in with the "conspiracy" crowd, but the timing of these discoveries is quite convenient for Repubs.

To read that the Repubs are frothing at the mouth to harm Biden and his ENTIRE family is pretty damned saddening. I don't know the truth of all this stuff, but it definitely affects Trump's prosecution under the Espionage act.

I believe with all my heart that Trump stole the docs to sell to the highest bidder. And, if--and only if--Biden did end up with docs that he should have returned, then that is a big problem, but I don't believe that Biden's intentions were to make money for himself.

But, in view of these events, I think that Garland has waited long enough. It's now 2023, and we are heading into rough waters. Because of this situation with Biden's docs, I see a lot of the wind slipping out of our sails.

Guess what? I don't give a sh*t about Hunter Biden's laptop, dic pics, or anything like that, anymore. I care only about keeping the Orange Turd out of the WH, because if he gets back in, we are toast.

I am so sad for my country. To see it being torn down by fascists, a country that we fought for at enormous cost, is a great sorrow.

[GenXer47]

7. why? indict them both if needed

Biden has nothing to hide, nothing to lose, and should step up and face the music. That would show real leadership and courage.
Two wrongs don't make a right!

[brush]

38. Nah, the Biden admin immediately contacted the DOJ...

and National Archives to turn them over. There was no hiding them, no warrant needed, no search, no claiming "They're mine."

Nowhere nearly equivalent circumstances.

[certainot]

24. if so, it's only because americans with sense ignore rw radio

that is what enables the national hypocrisy

[maxsolomon]

33. 1st sentence on the NPR top of the hour news this morning:

"President Biden and former President Trump both had classified documents"

then

"We'll look at how the media is covering it".

[Ursus Rex]

34. NPR is easily-arguable to be right-wing.

Has been since the 90's. It's sometimes *better* than "free-market" outlets like CNN, but also has a TON of both-siders and outright right-wing apologists.

[certainot]

37. ha

[Lonestarblue]

5. What this says to me is that we need some changes in tracking these documents.

Every classified document should have a number, and every document should be recovered wither by someone at the National Archives or by someone from the issuing national security agency by the end of a person’s term in office. It can’t be that hard to do. I track UPS shipments all the time with their tracking system.

[dweller]

8. Why aren't we being told

what the details are of the documents that Pisswig stole from the White House and would not return?
What were the topics?
WTF ?



✌🏻

[Rebl2]

16. Good question.

I still say how do we know they weren’t planted there by some trump loving FBI agent.

[EndlessWire]

40. Yeah, that's why we need that SC

but I don't trust anyone appointed by Trump.

[Rebl2]

44. Me either

[Ocelot II]

9. I wonder how often this sort of thing has happened in the past

because someone has inadvertently gathered up some documents that should have gone to the NA and mixed them with a government official's own stuff - and later the error is discovered, reported, and the materials returned without incident and no further action need be taken. In TFG's case, though, he lied about taking the documents in the first place, left them unsecured, tried to conceal the fact that he still had them, fought over a search warrant to get them back, and insisted they were his and that he had declassified them with his mind. None of that would have happened if he had quietly returned the stuff he took to the NA; but a BFD is being made of the documents in Biden's old office only because of what TFG did.

[Cheezoholic]

29. I've been wondering something similar

Leaving the obvious differences between these 2 incidents aside how many times have we not heard about classified documents being found floating around after the fact like this, probably because as you said the other situations were handled properly as the Biden situation was. My point is, is this a thing? Are these mixups and errors somewhat commonplace however "innocent"? I believe it does happen more than we may have suspected which leads to a more important issue. We may need to seriously look at, revamp and tighten the chain of custody requirements for classified documentation and maybe even look at enforcing accountability for stepping outside that chain if it is deemed an issue. Whilst Orange mans case is on a different level that approaches treason, it seems to me there may be a wider issue at play that is probably the result of simple repetition and complacency govt. wide.

[Ocelot II]

30. I agree. It's possible that the procedures for keeping track of these docs

need improvement - maybe haven't been updated or properly computerized for years, making it possible for materials to be lost track of unintentionally. That TFG intended to keep whatever left the WH with him is apparent, considering how hard he tried to avoid returning them or even admitting he had them. But I'll bet some stuff has been misplaced accidentally from time to time because the procedures for tracking them aren't robust enough.

[doc03]

10. Trump is going to get away free unless he

gets indicted in Georgia. They say sedition is extremely
hard to prove. Have to prove intent. Now with Biden's documents, he will get a slap on the wrist.

[padah513]

11. 2013. As far as Ukraine goes, this was during the time of Viktor Yanukovych

The former president of Ukraine who now lives in exile in Russia, and the Iranians were protesting at the US embassy in Iran during this time. Not saying that's what these classified documents were about. Just saying that the sky may not be falling and I'm gonna wait and see.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. Pray tell what happened in Ukraine in February/March 2014

and keep in mind this from the OP -

The documents were dated between 2013 and 2016

[orangecrush]

42. BINGO!!!

[dpibel]

14. "Garland's DOJ doesn't leak!!1!1!!"

It seems I've heard that in response to complaints about the slow pace of all the Trump investigations. "You don't know nothin' cuz Garland's DOJ never leaks so shuttup."

So I guess the instantaneous specific information here must have come from somewhere else.

And in answer to the inevitable next arch question: Yes! I do know that President Joe Biden appointed Merrick Garland!

And that does not mean much to me because I do not think Joe Biden is infallible, nor do I think that anyone he appoints is uttery above reproach.

[emulatorloo]

18. Trashing thread, too much shit-stirring and outright panic in the comments over a false equivalency.

Thanks for the article though.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

20. CNN rushed to scandalize new reporting on classified documents found at former Biden office

CNN has become a clone of Fox News under the new management team

Link to tweet

https://www.mediamatters.org/cnn/cnn-rushed-scandalize-new-reporting-classified-documents-found-former-biden-office

fter news broke that classified documents from his vice presidential days had been found in President Joe Biden’s former office, CNN rushed to sensationalize the story and drew inaccurate parallels to the FBI’s retrieval of documents held by former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

On Monday night between when the news broke and 11 p.m., CNN dedicated 1 hour and 47 minutes of coverage to the story, more than sevenfold MSNBC’s 14 minutes of coverage and over three and a half times Fox News’ 29 minutes.

?VersionId=q0Od_MhkIqtM2D8AfOdrGSidRsSBPo2o

One particularly poor example in CNN’s programming came just before prime time, on Erin Burnett OutFront. As the story was breaking, anchor Erin Burnett emphasized that Biden was legally required to return the documents when his term as vice president ended in 2017. Burnett pointed out the differences between the FBI seizing documents at Mar-a-Lago following a court-approved search warrant and Biden’s legal team immediately turning over the documents to the National Archives when they found them. But CNN’s coverage implied hypocrisy on Biden's part by playing a September 2022 clip of the president rhetorically asking “how anyone could be that irresponsible” in regard to Trump withholding classified material at Mar-a-Lago. CNN also included an image of the classified documents found by the FBI at Trump’s residence during the segment without providing context, potentially misleading viewers.

From the January 9, 2023, edition of CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront

Burnett then brought out CNN correspondent Jamie Gangel, who while mentioning the differences between the Trump story and Biden’s, framed the news as “a political nightmare for the Biden administration” and “politically something that the Republicans and Donald Trump are going to make hay in.”

In response to a question from Burnett about “how much of a gift” and how “transformational” the new story is for Trump, Gangel stated that this is “a huge political gift for Trump." And despite the distinct differences between the documents found at Trump’s home and Biden’s office, Gangel posited that “it is going to be very important for Justice [Department], and as much as the National Archives plays a role here, to really let the public know what was in here. Is that nuance going to cut through? I don’t think so.”

Link to tweet

[SouthernDem4ever]

21. Got a good chuckle from Chris Hayes tonight

He said something to the effect that Biden's docs were misplaced and surrendered immediately, he didn't take off with a bunch of them stuffed down his pants like trump.

[Torchlight]

23. The same materials he turned over to Nat. Archives immediately after he was informed?

Henny Penny's across the nation will have a field day with this.

Someone should call Jenny. I'll try to remember the number.

[docgee]

25. Biden should come out and say if 45 goes to jail, he will resign.

Maybe the media show will shift.

[Talitha]

27. "discovered in a private office last fall"

And they wait till NOW to announce it?

I smell a rat.

It's no coincidence that 'someone' waited to spill the beans about this until after the Repugs controlled the House.

[moondust]

31. +1

[orangecrush]

43. +1

[orangecrush]

41. Welcome to DU

Suddenly, I'm craving pizza...





Must be near suppertime.