Joe Biden may have hoped that Attorney General Merrick Garland's announcement would take the wind out of Republicans' sails for a moment.

After all, many of them had demanded exactly that: that a special investigator also have to be used in Biden's secret documents affair.

The same standards apply to the incumbent as to the former President Donald Trump.

But just hours after Garland appeared before the press, the Republican attacks continued.

Sofia Dreisbach

North American political correspondent based in Washington.

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James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the special counsel's investigation had no impact on his own investigation.

With or without him, the committee will investigate Biden's misconduct and "the swamp's effort to hide it from the American people."

Other Republicans were still calling for crackdowns on Biden.

In contrast to Trump, however, he quickly revealed that employees had found classified information when clearing out a former office on November 2, 2022.

First, his lawyers informed the national archives, where such documents are stored.

That then reported the case two days later to the Justice Department, which entrusted Chicago prosecutor John Lausch, appointed by Trump, with the initial investigation.

On January 5, he finally recommended the use of a special investigator.

Meanwhile, Biden's attorneys are combing through other possible locations where classified documents may have been inadvertently stored.

Biden's approval ratings are just rising again

But as much as the White House is trying to portray Biden as transparent and cooperative on this issue, it does not put him in a good light.

Biden is expected to announce his re-election for president in the coming months.

The headlines surrounding the document affair distract from his political content.

Just before Biden appeared in front of the cameras on Thursday to break some good economic news, his lawyers announced that more documents had been found.

After his speech, the interest turned to this topic.

The president's approval ratings are only just rising again.

In the coming weeks, they are likely to become the benchmark for how much the documents affair affects voters.

In addition, despite all the declarations of transparency, the White House only reacted with further disclosures after the media had reported on further document finds.

According to the Defense Secretary, Biden's attorneys found classified information again on December 20, this time at Biden's residence in Wilmington, Delaware.

Biden's team Garland announced a third find, also in Wilmington, in the morning, a few hours before its appearance.

Biden's spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre refused almost any question on the subject on Thursday.

For example, why did the White House only inform the public weeks after the discovery - and thus also waited for the congressional elections?

These are details that the Republicans, with their majority in the House of Representatives, should gratefully pounce on in the announced investigations.