President Joe Biden has a history of taking a hard stance on mishandling of classified documents, according to new reports.
In 1977, while serving as a senator from Delaware, Biden played a key role in blocking the confirmation of American lawyer Ted Sorensen as CIA Director.
Sorensen had admitted to taking boxes of classified records home with him after leaving the White House in 1964, in order to use certain materials for a Kennedy biography.
Biden aligned with Senate Republicans to block Sorensen’s confirmation, and even suggested that Sorensen may have violated the Espionage Act of 1917.
During the Senate confirmation hearing, Biden mocked Sorensen for “carelessly” ignoring laws pertaining to possessing classified materials.
“If [Sorenson] did so, can he now bring the activities of the intelligence community within the strict limits of the law?” Biden asked. “We will expect that in the future of intelligence agencies. If that is to be the case, then we must hold the director … accountable as well.”
After being grilled on Capitol Hill, Sorensen did not contest Carter’s withdrawn nomination. But, he did note that his “handling of classified information was at all times in accordance with the then-existing laws, regulations, and practices.”
Now, as the current President, Biden has not expressed any public remorse for batches of classified materials being discovered either at his Washington, D.C. office or his Delaware home, during his time as Vice President. As Vice President, Biden holds no powers of declassifying top-secret government documents.
In Sep 2022, Biden had also said that the discovery of top-secret documents at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate raised concerns that sensitive data was compromised and called it “irresponsible.”
Biden was speaking to CBS’ “60 Minutes” when he said that after he heard about classified documents taken from the White House, he wondered how “anyone could be that irresponsible.”
“And I thought, what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods?” he added.
