Biden says he has "no regrets" on handling of classified documents since discovery

President Biden told reporters in California Thursday that he "has no regrets" on the handling of documents marked classified that were discovered at a former office and his Wilmington home, including the administration's decision to not confirm or disclose the existence of the documents until they were reported two months later. 

Mr. Biden, asked why the White House didn't disclose the existence of the documents in November before the midterm elections, told reporters he thinks they're going to find out "there's no there there." 

"We found a handful of documents were filed in the wrong place," Mr. Biden responded. "We immediately turned them over to the Archives and the Justice Department. We're fully cooperating, looking forward to getting this resolved quickly. I think you're gonna find there's nothing there. I have no regrets. I'm following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do. That's exactly what we're doing. There's no there there."

• The timeline of events surrounding the discovery of documents at Biden's former office and residence

The president's response comes as the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, and the White House counsel's office face daily questions about why the administration didn't disclose the November discovery of the records from his time as vice president at the Penn Biden Center in Chicago until after CBS News reported on them earlier this month. The White House also failed to disclose that additional records with classification markings were found at Mr. Biden's Wilmington home in December until NBC News reported on them. 

The U.S. attorney in Chicago has been handling the Justice Department probe into the records, and special counsel Robert Hur will soon be picking up the investigation. 

Kathryn Watson

Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, D.C.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.