The National Archives has asked former U.S. presidents and vice presidents to re-check their personal records for any classified documents following the news that President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence had such documents in their possession, two people familiar with the matter said Thursday.

The Archives sent a letter Thursday to representatives of former presidents and vice presidents extending back to Ronald Reagan to ensure compliance with the Presidential Records Act. The act states that any records created or received by the president are the property of the U.S. government and will be managed by the archives at the end of the administration, according to the two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about investigations.

The Archives sent the letter to representatives of former Presidents Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, and former Vice Presidents Pence, Biden, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle.

The letter was first reported by CNN.

Spokespeople for former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and former vice presidents Mike Pence, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Biden’s lawyers came across classified documents from his time as vice president in a locked cabinet as they were packing up an office he no longer uses in November. Since then, subsequent searches by the FBI and Biden’s lawyers have turned up more documents. Former Vice President Mike Pence, too, this week, discovered documents and turned them in after saying previously he did not believe he had any.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment but the searches by Biden’s attorneys and the FBI appear to fulfill the Archives’ request.

Handling of classified documents has been a problem off and on for decades, from presidents to Cabinet members and staff across multiple administrations stretching as far back as Jimmy Carter. But the issue has taken on greater significance since former President Donald Trump willfully retained classified material at his Florida estate, prompting the unprecedented FBI seizure of thousands of pages of records last year.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump’s handling of the documents, and also Biden’s.

Speaking Thursday at an unrelated news conference, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that though he could not discuss any specific ongoing investigation, “We have had for quite a number of years any number of mishandling investigations. That is unfortunately a regular part of our counterintelligence division’s and counterintelligence program’s work.”

He said there was a need for people to be conscious of laws and rules governing the handling of classified information. “Those rules,” he said, “are there for a reason.”

US Condemns South Africa’s Decision To Join Drills With Russia And China

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not say what consequences African governments that work with Russia’s Wagner private military company may face in the wake of Washington’s decision to designate it as a transnational criminal organization.

The United States has concerns about a decision by South Africa to join Russia and China in their military drills, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday.

"The United States has concerns about any country, as we've said before, exercising with Russia, while Russia wages a brutal war against Ukraine. <...> We've been consistent on this. Of course, every participating country will make their own decision. But again, we've said this before, we do have concerns," the White House press secretary said.

She refused to say whether Washington had made this position clear to Pretoria, where Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited on Monday. "I don't have any conversations to read out, but we've been very-very consistent [on this issue]," Jean-Pierre said.

She did not say what consequences African governments that work with Russia’s Wagner private military company may face in the wake of Washington’s decision to designate it as a transnational criminal organization. Nor did Jean-Pierre comment on whether US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen might be talking about this during her African tour. "I will leave any conversation that Secretary Yellen has had with leaders to her and to her office to speak to," the White House press secretary said.

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