Clinton, Bush and Obama also asked to check their house and garage for secret documents | Abroad

In the letter, which the channel ‘CNN’ could read, the former heads of state are called on to look again in their personal archives to see whether presidential reports have ended up there “by accident”.

The 98-year-old President Jimmy Carter did not receive the letter because the legislation on the surrender of presidential documents was not yet in effect during his presidency. Carter signed the so-called Presidential Records Act, but it did not take effect until after his term. The letter was therefore sent to representatives of the late presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr.

Last week classified documents were found on former Vice President Mike Pence. About ten documents were reportedly found by Pence’s attorney, who then reported the find to the National Archives. The federal police FBI and the Justice Department have launched an investigation into how the documents ended up in Pence’s private home. According to sources, the ex-vice president himself had asked his adviser to search a number of boxes of documents for possible secret copies, after the fuss that has arisen in the US about secret documents ending up in the wrong places.

A little earlier, records were also found in the home and private office of current president Joe Biden, from his time as Obama’s vice president. Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed an independent attorney to investigate the case. The incident is politically very annoying for Biden. After all, his predecessor Donald Trump became embroiled in a scandal involving secret documents that were found in places where they should not have been.

Trump was raided last year by the FBI to take back the more than three hundred secret documents he took home after his resignation. Trump allegedly deliberately took the documents to Florida from Washington after his presidency. Trump’s files may contain nuclear secrets, US media reported. The Justice Department is investigating the matter.

All three people involved have now also received the letter from the National Archives to check whether there are still secret documents in their house.

Pence’s most recent discovery may still soften the potentially negative political fallout for Biden, who had harshly criticized Trump last fall for his handling of classified material. That now faces Biden on charges of hypocrisy. The issue has become politically sensitive for Biden and Trump, who may face each other in a November 2024 presidential election.

Prominent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a critic of Biden and an ally of Trump, believes the matter is being unnecessarily inflated. The South Carolina senator believes none of the three deliberately attempted to compromise national security. “Perhaps we classify far too many documents as secret. What became a political problem for Republicans is now becoming a national security problem,” said Graham.