Second batch of potentially classified Biden documents discovered at new location

WASHINGTON — Aides to President Joe Biden have found a second batch of documents, some of which may be classified, at a new location that Biden was known to use after leaving office as vice president, ABC News has learned.

Sources familiar with the White House efforts tell ABC News that the second batch of documents contained information suggesting they may be classified. The materials came to light as Biden aides conducted a search of other locations where he worked after leaving the Obama administration.

Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report.

These documents came to light as Biden aides responded to the November discovery of classified documents at the Washington, D.C., office of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Biden Center, which Biden used after his time as vice president.

That original November discovery was immediately reported to the National Archives and Records Administration, according to White House officials, sparking a Department of Justice inquiry.

It is unclear whether the expansive search by Biden aides to check for other potentially classified government documents has been completed yet.

The White House did not comment on the discovery of a second set of documents.

Sources also tell ABC News the original batch of documents found in November contains classified vice presidential briefing papers about foreign countries, some marked top secret.

The revelation of a second set of documents, first reported by NBC News, comes the same day that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to provide additional details about why classified documents were apparently improperly stored at Biden’s old office at the Penn Biden Center.

The preliminary DOJ inquiry into the possible mishandling of classified documents is focusing on how the documents got there and whether the president played a role.

The investigation, involving the FBI and the DOJ, has been ongoing for several weeks. Attorney General Merrick Garland has been briefed on the matter and a preliminary finding is expected to be in his hands in the coming weeks, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Garland will face a decision about whether to launch a full scale criminal investigation and whether to appoint a special counsel.

Biden told reporters on Tuesday in Mexico, while meeting with North American leaders, that he doesn’t know what is in the records and was “surprised to learn” they were found there.