President Biden was interviewed over the past two days by Robert K. Hur, the special counsel investigating whether Mr. Biden illegally mishandled classified documents found at his home and office, the White House said Monday.
“The voluntary interview was conducted over two days, Sunday and Monday, and concluded Monday,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement. “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.”
The interview occurred the same weekend Mr. Biden and his national security team were scrambling to respond to the Hamas attack on Israel, which left at least 11 Americans dead and an unknown number of citizens missing.
The interview suggests that Mr. Hur, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in January, is nearing the end of his probe. Interviews with a person at the center of an investigation typically take place near the end of the process.
Attorneys for Mr. Biden had been negotiating with Mr. Hur’s team for about a month over the terms in which the president would be interviewed. Such discussions were said to have included the scope of the questions as well as when and where the interview would take place, according to people familiar with the probe.
Questions began swirling in November about how classified documents from Mr. Biden’s time as vice president in the Obama administration as well as his tenure as a senator representing Delaware ended up in his possession.
It is unclear how many documents were seized by investigators and whether the size has been a factor in the length of the investigation.
Mr. Biden’s lawyers reported that they had found several classified documents mixed in with other papers in a storage closet while cleaning out a Washington office that Mr. Biden used after leaving the vice presidency but before he ran for president in 2020.
A search of Mr. Biden’s house in Delaware turned up several classified documents, including some dating back to his time in the Senate, which he left in 2008 to join the Obama administration.
The searches put political pressure on Mr. Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate the matter and he responded by naming Mr. Hur to look into the matter.
Mr. Hur’s appointment came roughly two months after Mr. Garland selected Jack Smith to serve as special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified government documents he brought to his Mar-a-Lago residence upon leaving the White House at the end of his term.
Mr. Smith has charged Mr. Trump with 37 criminal counts, including unauthorized retention of national security secrets and obstruction of justice. The former president has maintained his innocence and depicted the charges against him as a political hit job aimed at undermining his 2024 presidential campaign.
Both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump could face a rematch for the presidency next year with polls showing Mr. Trump far ahead of his rivals for the Republican nomination.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, also a presidential candidate, discovered classified documents from his time in office at his home in Indiana last year. Mr. Garland did not appoint a special counsel and the Justice Department has cleared him of any wrongdoing.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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