Biden Task Force Calls for More Training and Money to Avoid the Mishandling of Classified Documents [View all]
Source: US News and World Report/AP
Jan. 17, 2025, at 11:01 a.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal task force aiming to fix the mishandling of classified documents that it says has plagued outgoing presidential administrations for decades is recommending better guidance and training on such materials. Released Friday, the recommendations come nearly a year after President Joe Biden formed the Presidential Records Task Force with the goal of studying past transitions to determine best practices for safeguarding classified information from one administration to the next.
The task force is also calling on Congress to provide money for secure storage, so presidents can safely access the records after leaving office. Biden created the task force mere days after a Justice Department special counsel’s report sharply criticized him for mishandling sensitive documents from his time as vice president that should have gone to the National Archives for safekeeping.
That case came after federal agents searched Donald Trump’s Florida estate and charged him with purposefully hoarding top secret documents. How potentially sensitive documents are handled is especially salient now, meanwhile, since Biden is in the process of packing up to leave the White House, three days before Trump takes office on Monday.
“For nearly 50 years, every administration — Republican and Democrat — has faced the issue of classified documents being inadvertently removed during presidential transitions," the task force wrote in its final memo. “In recent years, classified documents from previous presidential administrations have surfaced in unsecured locations.”
Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2025-01-17/biden-task-force-calls-for-more-training-and-money-to-avoid-the-mishandling-of-classified-documents
Link to White House Task Force
MEMO -
MEMO: RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS TRANSITION TASK FORCE