# Classified Documents Found in Biden Private Office in November 2022 (January 9, 2023) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 9, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945 "2023-01-09T23:09:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/41 "2023-01-10T13:02:25Z")
I know. I’m mostly just being facetious, but my level of respect & trust has definitely been degraded by what we’ve seen in the last 6 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/42 "2023-01-10T13:15:20Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I don’t have any problem believing that Biden (or indeed any President or VP) might end up with a few government documents mixed in with their other papers when they move out. Yep. There’s going to be a lot of pearl-clutching about liberal hypocrisy when they don’t start building a pyre for Biden, but the issue was always about what happened **after** the government started asking Trump to give stuff back. If he’d complied at the outset we never would’ve heard about any of this. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/43 "2023-01-10T13:51:49Z")
Has this (government papers found after the officeholder left) really never happened before Trump? Or has it happened to, say, Reagan and they were returned and we simply never heard bc it was a simple mistake? I know that last part is unanswerable. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/44 "2023-01-10T14:21:56Z")
I’ve read a lot of presidential history, and I can’t recall it ever happening before Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/45 "2023-01-10T14:47:08Z")
It’s probably happened but it’s also probably been a non-issue because it was unintentional and rectified upon discovery. Trump’s “I don’t have any documents and also I declassified them even though the FBI planted them and that’s why I want them back” is the new wrinkle - and by “wrinkle” I mean “sign of the immolation of the last vestiges of decency in American politics” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/46 "2023-01-10T15:22:51Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > It’s probably happened but it’s also probably been a non-issue because it was unintentional and rectified upon discovery… This X 1,000! Of course, this kind of thing **has** to have happened in the past, considering the avalanche/tsunami of paperwork that swamps the Halls of Gummint! (Excuse my mixed meterological metaphors. And my alliteration.) It’s an issue **now** because of the extreme pilfering of classified documents pertaining to everything under the sun by TFG. If someone searched every square inch of every office in Washington, there would probably be misplaced/lost classified documents from Lincoln’s time, FFS. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/47 "2023-01-10T16:09:39Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > there would probably be misplaced/lost classified documents from Lincoln’s time, FFS. Excepting the idea of classification wasn’t really a thing until the 20th century and even then the formal system as we understand it mostly applied to post-FDR presidents. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/48 "2023-01-10T16:14:57Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Of course, this kind of thing **has** to have happened in the past, > **[Justice Department is examining a 'small number' of classified documents...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/justice-department-examining-small-number-classified-documents-found-b-rcna65019)** > > The documents were discovered in a locked closet by Biden’s attorneys in November as they prepared to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. > The Kentucky Republican added that based on research by his investigators following the Mar-a-Lago search, it was not uncommon for former presidents to accidentally leave office with classified documents. He also made clear that he thought it was unlikely Biden did anything wrong ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/49 "2023-01-10T16:34:34Z")
> The Kentucky Republican … made [it] clear that he thought it was unlikely Biden did anything wrong. RINO! > … and that he was more concerned that Trump may have been treated unfairly. That’s more like it. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/50 "2023-01-10T16:45:20Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Excepting the idea of classification wasn’t really a thing until the 20th century and even then the formal system as we understand it mostly applied to post-FDR presidents. Well, I was waxing poetic, but you know what I meant… 🕶 ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/51 "2023-01-10T17:12:52Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Or has it happened to, say, Reagan and they were returned and we simply never heard bc it was a simple mistake? We also never heard about it because the circumstances that resulted in secret document being left in unsecured locations is probably not something that the security establishment wants to advertise to potential adversaries. If Trump had fully cooperated with the archives there is a good chance that it would also have been discretely covered up. But its not possible to hide an FBI raid on a the home of a former president. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/52 "2023-01-10T18:14:42Z")
I don’t think we would have heard a thing about it if Trump had just coughed up all the documents. We didn’t hear anything until the FBI came to get them back months after the Archives had been “negotiating” for their return, and if I remember correctly, it was Trump himself who broke that news. Apparently now it’s become tradition to always report it, accidental/inadvertent or not, whether or not the FBI had to retrieve them, etc. They really should all be more careful. I can see it happening accidentally, but just maybe there need to be better protocols or something. Another thing that was just traditional and assumed to be a good faith effort to return all classified documents until Trump tore through the WH like a bull in a china shop. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/53 "2023-01-10T18:44:40Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > If Trump had fully cooperated with the archives there is a good chance that it would also have been discretely covered up. But its not possible to hide an FBI raid on a the home of a former president. It’s a variation on the Streisand Effect. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/54 "2023-01-10T22:06:33Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Has this (government papers found after the officeholder left) really never happened before Trump? According to Trump, pretty much everyone does it. Obama took millions of documents to Chicago. George HW Bush took millions of documents to a bowling alley/Chinese restaurant. Bill Clinton took millions to car dealership. GW Bush stored 68 million pages in a TX warehouse. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/55 "2023-01-10T22:12:20Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Obama took millions of documents to Chicago. George HW Bush took millions of documents to a bowling alley/Chinese restaurant. Bill Clinton took millions to car dealership. GW Bush stored 68 million pages in a TX warehouse. What’s lost on Donny Tanflab is that those other, more responsible presidents worked with the National Archives to determine which documents could be taken to be kept in presidential libraries. He clearly doesn’t like anyone ever telling him what he can or can’t do. My youngest daughter is 8 and she’s finally past that phase. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/56 "2023-01-10T23:00:16Z")
If I’d known the National Archives were involved in so much excitement I’d have had a very different career path. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/57 "2023-01-11T00:08:43Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > It wouldn’t just be “someone who adores Trump”; they’d have to have access to documents that might plausibly have been held by Biden during his Vice Presidency. Well, who knows how many 2013-16-era documents Trump may have squirreled away? It’s perfectly plausible that docs that weren’t freshly-generated (i.e. that did have the requisite dates) had been presented to Trump in briefings in 2017 or even later. When this story first broke my first thought was ‘was it the Secret Service who “found” these docs?’—because we know there are still a lot of guys in that outfit who love Trump. (Of course it turned out to have been Biden’s own lawyers who found them. And who, crucially, immediately reported them.) > > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > … the issue was always about what happened **after** the government started asking Trump to give stuff back. ^ Yep; this. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/58 "2023-01-11T00:15:29Z")
I would kind of love Obama to come out and say that just to troll the right. It would be pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/59 "2023-01-11T00:42:39Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > I would kind of love Obama to come out and say that just to troll the right. I don’t. I don’t think it would upset them in the slightest. It just supports Trump’s claims. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945/60 "2023-01-11T09:57:26Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > According to Trump, pretty much everyone does it. Obama took millions of documents to Chicago. George HW Bush took millions of documents to a bowling alley/Chinese restaurant. Bill Clinton took millions to car dealership. GW Bush stored 68 million pages in a TX warehouse. I know you know but just for the record: in those cases it was the National Archives who moved the documents to temporary secure facilities while the presidential libraries were being built. None of them just took government documents home for kicks and giggles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classified-documents-found-in-biden-private-office-in-november-2022-january-9-2023/977945.md?page=4)