The White House said on Thursday that classified documents were discovered at US President Joe Biden's Wilmington, Delaware residence. 

Richard Sauber, a special counsel to the president, said a "small number" of the documents were found in Biden's garage, with one other file also discovered in an adjacent room. The files were discovered by Biden's personal lawyers. 

Sauber said the US Department of Justice (DOJ) was "immediately notified" after the documents were found. The White House claims that Biden did not know what was in the classified documents, which were from his time as vice president during President Barack Obama's administration. 

Biden said one of the classified records was found in his "personal library" and that he is "cooperating fully" with the DOJ on the issue.   

Asked by a reporter on Thursday about the wisdom of storing sensitive documents next to his Corvette, Biden said both were in a locked garage.

"It's not like they’re sitting out in the street," he said. "People know I take classified documents and classified material seriously."

Special counsel appointed

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday named a special counsel, Robert Hur, to investigate Biden's handling of documents.

Special prosecutors are typically appointed to politically sensitive cases to ensure a degree of independence from the DOJ's leadership.

A discovery of this nature had been widely reported on Wednesday by US media.

The admission by US President Joe Biden's legal team follows the discovery of classified docs at the office of his former Washington think tank. Biden's lawyers found the first set of docs on November 2, shortly before midterm elections in the US. 

Similar, and yet different, to case involving Trump

The discovery of the documents may create a political headache for Biden, and could complicate his potential efforts to seek a second White House term in 2024.

Following the White House admission on Wednesday, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Congress must probe Biden regarding the classified documents. 

In August, the personal Florida residence of former Republican President Donald Trump, Mar-a-Lago, was raided by the FBI in search of classified documents. Trump has portrayed the raid as a politically motivated effort by the Biden administration to hamper his 2024 White House run. 

Biden, a Democrat, has criticized Trump over the trove of documents found at Mar-a-Lago, calling it "totally irresponsible." Attorney General Garland had also ordered a special counsel to look into the handling of sensitive files by Trump. 

The new discovery of classified files at Biden's home and former office has led to allegations of hypocrisy and double standards from Republicans.

Republican Representative Darrell Issa of California tweeted that the "White House and the DOJ tried to cover up this Biden scandal." Elise Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman from New York, criticized Biden's "egregious" handling of documents

Yet, there is a stark difference in how the two leaders handled classified documents.

The FBI raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago home came after the National Archives had been requesting the sensitive documents for over a year, with the former president's attorneys ignoring the request. 

Biden's legal team, meanwhile, said it came forward voluntarily to the federal government after the documents were discovered. 

wd/msh,fb (Reuters, AP, AFP)