by An equal number of Americans are concerned about classified documents found in the possession of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, according to a poll released by NBC News on Sunday.
Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they find the discovery of the Biden documents very concerning or somewhat concerning, while an identical 67% expressed the same opinion about the discovery of the Trump documents – despite differences in the number of documents found and how Biden and Trump responded to the discoveries.
More than a dozen classified documents have been found in Biden’s private offices and residence, while more than 300 classified documents have been recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
Classified documents reveal a broader problem: Missing secret documents are not uncommon
Trump also resisted handing over any documents despite repeated requests from the National Archives and a subpoena, leading a judge to issue a warrant authorizing the FBI to search Mar-a-Lago. Biden has so far cooperated with the Justice Department and authorized authorities to search his home in Wilmington, Delaware, where six additional classified documents were found.
In the survey, 50% of respondents disapprove of Biden’s job performance, compared to 45% who approve. The numbers don’t bode well for Republicans either.
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Since taking the majority in the House, Republicans have begun laying the groundwork for their promises of extensive investigations into Biden and his administration, but Americans don’t seem to be as thrilled as House lawmakers.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said they think House Republicans will spend too much time investigating Biden instead of focusing on other priorities. Fifty-four percent of the respondents also said they think the Republicans will be too inflexible in their investigations.
We asked: Besides Trump, Biden and Pence, are there any other former presidents who carry classified documents?
The poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points among all 1,000 respondents and 3.4 percentage points among the 810 registered polled voters. The poll was conducted from January 20-24; it surveyed 1,000 US adults, including 823 respondents with a cell phone.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Americans equally concerned about Biden, Trump classified docs: poll
