The White House and Democrats in Washington are scrambling to limit any lasting political hit to US president Joe Biden from the furore over his handling of classified material, which has rattled the run-up to his expected bid for re-election in 2024.
The president and his top aides and lawyers have faced mounting criticism in recent days for being sloppy in their treatment of sensitive government records from Biden’s time in the Obama administration, which were discovered at his private office and residence starting in early November.
They have also faced a backlash for a lack of transparency in failing to disclose the recovery of the documents to the public until last week in a series of statements, even though they informed the justice department of the findings every step of the way.