Durbin Statement on Classified Documents Found at Penn Biden Center

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding reports that Attorney General Merrick Garland has assigned U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch to review the discovery of classified documents from the Obama-Biden Administration at the Penn Biden Center, a Washington, D.C. based think tank:

“I applaud President Biden and Attorney General Garland for their professional, nonpartisan handling of this situation.  Unlike former President Donald Trump, who allegedly obstructed efforts to recover hundreds of classified documents, the handful of classified documents reportedly found at the Biden Center were immediately sent to the National Archives and President Biden is allowing the Justice Department to operate free of political interference.  And unlike Donald Trump’s Attorney General, Bill Barr, Merrick Garland is not acting like the President’s personal lawyer. 

“U.S. Attorney Lausch is a by-the-book prosecutor who was confirmed with bipartisan support during the previous Administration.  I trust that he will handle this investigation with the utmost professionalism and without bias.”        

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