US President Joe Biden has said he has “no regrets” over not going public before the midterm elections with the news that classified documents had been discovered in his private office.
The US attorney general has appointed a special counsel to investigate the matter.
Classified files were found at an office he used after his term as vice-president and later at his home.
“I think you’re going to find there’s nothing there,” Mr Biden said.
His response came after a reporter asked him why he did not disclose the documents in November after they were found.
“I have no regrets,” he said during a tour on Thursday of a California beach town hit hard by weeks of storms in the western US.
“I’m following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do. It’s exactly what we’re doing.”
It was the first time Mr Biden has spoken in public about the classified files. The president has faced criticism, especially from Republicans, for the delayed disclosure of the document discovery.
Mr Biden’s lawyers said in early January that a first batch of documents had been found on 2 November at the Penn Biden Center, a think-tank Mr Biden created in Washington DC.
