US President Joe Biden says the discovery of top-secret documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate has raised concerns that sensitive data has been compromised, calling it “irresponsible”.
Biden, who rarely gives interviews, spoke to the CBS program 60 minutes in a segment that aired on Sunday. He said that when he heard about classified White House documents, he wondered how “anyone could be so irresponsible”.
“And I thought, what data was in there that could compromise sources and methods?” Biden said.
The president said he received no advance warning ahead of the search of the Trump estate and he didn’t ask for specifics “because I don’t want to get caught up in the middle on whether or not the Justice Department should move or not take certain actions that they take.” could.”
The FBI says it took about 11,000 documents, including about 100 with classification marks, found in a storage room and office when a court-approved search warrant was served on the home Aug. 8. Weeks after the search, Trump attorneys asked a judge to appoint a special master to conduct an independent review of the records.
According to the warrant, federal agents were investigating possible violations of three separate federal statutes, including one governing the collection, transmission or loss of defense intelligence under the Espionage Act.
In the lengthy interview, the president declined to commit to re-election in 2024, although he has said in the past he plans to do so.
“My intention, as I said at the beginning, is to run again,” he said. “But it’s just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen.”
With midterm US congressional elections just two months away, Democrats argue that democracy itself is up for election now. While President Joe Biden has called Donald Trump’s supporters a threat to democracy, Trump says the legal and political forces arrayed against him are lawless, sick, evil and divisive.
