United States President Joe
Biden scoffed at his predecessor Donald Trump’s remarks that he had declassified
the documents he had taken to his Florida residence Mar-a-Lago. President Biden’s
remarks came after the US Department of Justice released a redacted version of
the affidavit that allowed federal officials to raid the former president’s
Palm Beach residence on August 8.

Upon being asked about
Donald Trump’s claim that he had declassified the material, Joe Biden said, “I
just want you to know I’ve declassified everything in the world. I’m President.
I can do – c’mon.” Biden was speaking to reporters while leaving the White
House.

Also Read | FBI raid at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago: A timeline based on Justice Department affidavit

Joe Biden’s Friday comments
are perhaps his most expansive on the Department of Justice’s investigation
into Donald Trump taking documents from the White House to Mar-a-Lago. “I’m not
going to comment because I don’t know the details. I don’t even want to know. I’ll
let the Justice Department take that,” Biden maintained.

When asked if it was
appropriate for a president to take government documents home, Biden said, “I’m
taking home with me today today’s PDB (Presidential Daily Brief). It’s locked.
I have a person with me, military with me, I read it. I lock it back up. I give
it to the military.”

Also Read | Justice dept affidavit: Did Trump have ‘absolute authority to declassify documents’?

While members of the Biden
administration have strictly refrained from commenting on the investigation in
public, there is concern among a section of officials on what exactly the
former president took with him, according to a CNN report.

The Justice Department’s redacted
affidavit indicates that federal officials have observed a preliminary triage
of documents, including 184 unique documents bearing classification markings,
of which 67 documents are marked CONFIDENTIAL, 92 documents are marked SECRET,
and 25 documents are marked TOP SECRET.

Following the release of
the redacted affidavit, former President Donald Trump said the raid at
Mar-a-Lago was a public relations subterfuge. “Affidavit heavily redacted!!!
Nothing mentioned on ‘Nuclear,’ a total public relations subterfuge by the FBI
& DOJ, or our close working relationship regarding document turnover – WE GAVE
THEM MUCH.”