Biden attorneys in talks with investigators over classified docs interview

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, United States (AA) - Attorneys for US President Joe Biden are negotiating ground rules with federal investigators for an interview over his alleged mishandling of classified documents from his tenure as vice president, according to a new report released on Friday.

Special counsel Robert Hur has been in talks with Biden's lawyers for the past month about the potential sit-down interview, according to NBC News.

The eight-month investigation revolves around an unknown number of classified materials that were found at Biden's residence in the northeastern state of Delaware in January. The documents were from Biden's time as vice president under Barack Obama and his decades as a US senator.

The details of the negotiations are reportedly focused on when and where the interview might take place in addition to the scope of the questions the president will be asked.

Sources told NBC that Biden's lawyers would like to know if this will be an in-person interview with the special counsel and if it would include questioning about material beyond his time as vice president. They stress that no agreement has been reached and that the negotiations are ongoing.

Representatives for both the president and the special counsel declined to comment on the report. Biden has pledged to cooperate "fully and completely" with the investigation. The White House has referred all questions related to this matter to the Justice Department.

In June, ex-US President Donald Trump was indicted on 37 counts regarding classified documents taken from his Florida estate after leaving office, and alleged efforts to thwart federal officials investigating the matter. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Classified documents were also found in former Vice President Mike Pence's Indiana home from his time in office, but the Justice Department cleared him of any potential wrongdoing.

While Trump has compared his case to Biden’s, asking why Biden is not being prosecuted, Biden’s defenders say he did not take documents he should not have on purpose, and when the documents turned up, he gave them back to the government immediately, unlike Trump, who stalled the government for months.