Biden interviewed by special counsel about classified documents

President Biden was interviewed as part of an investigation into his handling of classified documents by Special Counsel Robert Hur, the White House counsel’s office said.

The interview was voluntary and concluded Monday, White House Counsel’s Office spokesperson Ian Sams told Fox News.

‘The voluntary interview was conducted at the White House over two days, Sunday and Monday, and concluded Monday,’ he said. 

The investigation is being led by Hur, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee the probe.

‘As we have said from the beginning, the President and the White House are cooperating with this investigation, and as it has been appropriate, we have provided relevant updates publicly, being as transparent as we can consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation,’ Sams said. 

‘We would refer other questions to the Justice Department at this time,’ he added. 

The interview played out as war broke out in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. Biden was speaking with foreign leaders about the matter and meeting with his national security team. 

The probe stems from a batch of records from President Biden’s time as vice president, including a ‘small number of documents with classified markings,’ that were discovered at the Penn Biden Center by the president’s personal attorneys on Nov. 2, 2022. 

The documents were found in a locked closet while preparing to vacate office space at the center, which the president used from mid-2017 until he began the 2020 campaign. The National Archives were notified of the finding and took possession of the documents on Nov. 3, 2022, Sauber said. 

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team negotiated with lawyers for then-President Donald Trump for an interview but Trump never sat for one. His lawyers instead submitted answers to written questions.

President George W. Bush sat for a 70-minute interview as part of an investigation into the leak of the identity of a CIA operative. President Bill Clinton in 1998 underwent more than four hours of questioning from independent counsel Kenneth Starr before a federal grand jury.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.