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U.S. NEWS Monday 23 January 2023

The access road to President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del., is seen from a media van on
Jan. 13, 2023.
Associated Press An Abbott Laboratories manufacturing plant is shown in
Sturgis, Mich., on Sept. 23, 2010.
Dems: Biden should be ‘embarrassed’ Associated Press

by classified docs case Justice Department
investigating Abbott

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and Special counsels appoint- Friday, but the lack of a
SEUNG MIN KIM ed by Attorney General warrant did not dim the baby formula plant
Associated Press Merrick Garland are inves- extraordinary nature of the
WASHINGTON (AP) — Se- tigating both cases. search. It compounded the
nior Democrats, dismayed “Well, of course. Let’s be embarrassment to Biden NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department is in-
by a steady stream of star- honest about it. When that that started in earlier in vestigating the Abbott Laboratories infant formula
tling disclosures, expressed information is found, it di- January with the disclosure plant in Michigan that was shut down for months
criticism Sunday of how minishes the stature of any that the president’s lawyers last year due to contamination, the company con-
President Joe Biden han- person who is in possession had found a “small num- firmed.
dled classified material af- of it because it’s not sup- ber” of classified records at The factory’s closure in February 2022 was a key
ter leaving office as vice posed to happen. ... The a former office at the Penn cause of a nationwide baby formula shortage that
president and disappoint- elected official bears ulti- Biden Center in Washing- forced parents to seek formula from food banks,
ment that the White House mate responsibility,” Durbin ton shortly before the Nov. friends and doctor’s offices. Production restarted in
has not been more forth- said. Sen. Joe Manchin, 8 elections. June.
coming with the public. D-W.Va., said Biden “should The White House has dis- The Justice Department has informed Abbott of its
Lawmakers who might have a lot of regrets. ... You closed that Biden’s team investigation and the company is “cooperating ful-
have anticipated questions just might as well say, ‘Lis- found classified docu- ly,” Abbott spokesperson Scott Stoffel said via email.
focusing on the debt limit ten, it’s irresponsible.’” The ments and official records He declined to provide further details.
or Ukraine aid when they president told reporters on three other occasions in The investigation was first reported by The Wall Street
were booked last week on Thursday that he had recent months — in follow- Journal, which said the Justice Department’s con-
for the Sunday news shows “no regrets” over how and up searches on Dec. 20 in sumer protection branch is looking into conduct at
found themselves quizzed when the public learned the garage of his Wilming- the Sturgis, Michigan, plant that led to its shutdown.
about the latest develop- about the documents and ton home, and on Jan. 11 Abbott closed the factory after the Food and Drug
ment over the weekend in that there was “no there and 12 in his home library. Administration began investigating four bacterial in-
the document drama that there.” The discoveries have be- fections among infants who consumed powdered
has put Biden’s presidency Despite their criticism, come a political liability as formula from the plant. Inspectors uncovered sev-
on the defensive: During Biden’s fellow Democrats Biden prepares to kick off eral violations at the plant, including bacterial con-
a search Friday of Biden’s defended what they said his 2024 reelection bid, and tamination, a leaky roof and lax safety protocols. But
home in Wilmington, Dela- was his cooperation with they undercut his efforts to Abbott has stated that its products have not been
ware, the FBI found ad- the Justice Department as portray an image of propri- directly linked to the infections, which involved dif-
ditional documents with the search for additional ety to the American public ferent bacterial strains.
classified markings and classified material unfolds. after the tumultuous presi- Abbott is one of just four companies that produce
took possession of some They contrasted it with dency of his predecessor, 90% of U.S. formula, and its February recall of sev-
of his handwritten notes, Trump’s resistance to ef- Trump. eral leading brands, including Similac, squeezed
the president’s lawyer said forts to recover hundreds Manchin excoriated both supplies that had already been strained by supply
Saturday. Biden should be of documents after he left men for their handling of chain disruptions and stockpiling during COVID-19
“embarrassed by the situ- office. sensitive security docu- shutdowns.
ation,” said Illinois Sen. Dick “It is outrageous that either ments. “It’s just hard to The shortage was especially acute for children with
Durbin, the second-ranking occurred,” Durbin said. believe that in the United allergies, digestive problems and metabolic disor-
Democrat in the Senate, “But the reaction by the States of America, we have ders who rely on specialty formulas. The Abbott fac-
adding that the president former president and the a former president and a tory is the only source of many of those products.
had ceded the moral high current president could not current president that are The FDA has faced intense criticism for taking
ground on an issue that has be in sharper contrast.” basically in the same situ- months to close the plant and then negotiate its
already entangled former Biden voluntarily allowed ation,” he said. “How does reopening.q
President Donald Trump. the FBI into his home on this happen?”q