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?At least 10 current and former high?-ranking Biden administration officials — including Secretary of State Antony Blinken — worked at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, the president’s namesake Washington, DC-based think tank where classified documents were discovered in November, according to a report.?

The foreign policy institution associated with the University of Pennsylvania counted Blinken, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl and White House counselor Steven Richetti as former employees, Fox News reported Wednesday.

?Blinken and ?Richettei were managing directors of the center while Kahl was a strategic consultant.

In addition to the trio, other former workers at the center include Spencer Boyer, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO policy, who was a senior fellow. ??J??effrey Prescott, the deputy to the US ambassador to the United Nations, was a strategic consultant; ??Ariana Berengaut, a senior adviser to the national security adviser, was a center director; ????Michael Carpenter, the US representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, was a managing director; ??Juan Gonzalez, a special assistant to the president, was a senior fellow; and ????Carlyn Reichel, a special assistant to Biden and senior director for speechwriting and strategic initiatives, was the director of communications, according to Fox. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is among a number of administration staffers who worked at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Sarah Silbiger – Pool via CNP / Steven Richetti and President Biden at the White House on July 22, 2021. Richetti is among administration staffers who worked at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.AFP via Getty Images

Brian McKeon, a senior director at the center, was the deputy secretary of state for management and resources until he stepped down last month. see also Intel memos on Iran, Ukraine among docs found at Biden office: report

Since taking office, Biden has named longtime Penn president Amy Gutmann as the US ambassador to Germany while tapping David Cohen, the former head of the school’s board of trustees, as ambassador to Canada.

Biden praised Gutmann at the opening ceremony of the Penn Biden Center in February 2018 when he was interviewed by NBC News senior foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell, another Penn alum. 

“??President Gutmann, when you came to me before the [Obama] administration was up and asked me whether I [would] consider to be a professor at Penn, the first thought I had was that it sounded like an intriguing idea, but it became even more intriguing after the outcome of the [2016] election when you said I could bring along with me some serious, serious people,” Biden said.

“Serious staff people and much more than staff and they start with Tony Blinken and Steve Ricchetti and others, so thank you for allowing me to bring along some really, really bright people.” Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, once worked for the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Shutterstock

L?awyers for the president found 10 documents with classified markings in a locked closet at the center on Nov. 2, 2022. The papers reportedly were mixed in with Biden family documents — including details of funeral arrangements for the president’s son Beau, who died in 2015.  see also Redacted affidavit behind Trump Mar-a-Lago raid finally released by DOJ

Some of the documents, which dated from between 2013 and 2016 when Biden was vice president, were labeled “Top Secret” and included material about Ukraine and Iran, according to CNN.

Special counsel to the president Richard Sauber said in a statement Monday night that Biden used the office from “mid-2017 until the start of the 2020 campaign” in April 2019. 

He said the National Archives and Records Administration was immediately informed and the agency retrieved the documents the next day. 

Biden, speaking Tuesday in Mexico City, where he was attending a summit with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said he was “surprised to learn” that the classified documents were taken to the office.

?”?I dont know whats in the documents. My lawyers have not suggested I ask what documents they were. Ive turned over the boxes, theyve turned over the boxes to the Archives, and were cooperating fully, cooperating fully with the review, which I hope will be finished soon and therell be more detail at that time?,” he told reporters.  President Biden speaks at the University of Pennsylvania on March 30, 2017.

Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped Chicago US Attorney John Lausch, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, to examine the documents and he has already submitted a preliminary report. Start your day with all you need to know

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But Republicans are pointing out a double standard in the way the Biden materials are being treated compared with the way classified documents discovered at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida resort are being handled. 

Hundreds of classified documents were found at the former president’s Palm Beach resort in an FBI raid on Aug. 8 and Garland later named a special counsel, veteran prosecutor Jack Smith, to lead the investigation.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chair of the House Oversight Committee, said Tuesday that his panel will launch an investigation into the Biden documents and sent letters to the National Archives and White House seeking more information.  

He said the National Archives failed to publicly disclose the discovery of the classified documents and that Biden may have violated the law days before the midterm elections. 

“Meanwhile, NARA instigated a public and unprecedented FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago? ?? ?former President Trumps home? ?? ?to retrieve presidential records,” ?Comer wrote in the letter. “NARAs inconsistent treatment of recovering classified records held by former President Trump and President Biden raises questions about political bias at the agency.” 

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Follow live: Kings look to take 3-0 series lead vs. Oilers

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Hagel suspended for Game 3 due to hit on Barkov

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Hagel suspended for Game 3 due to hit on Barkov

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Brandon Hagel was suspended one game by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Friday night for what it labeled “an extremely forceful body check to an unsuspecting opponent” that injured Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov.

Hagel will miss Saturday’s Game 3 in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers lead the series 2-0.

Around midway through the third period of Thursday’s Game 2, Tampa Bay was on the power play while trailing 1-0. Barkov pressured defenseman Ryan McDonagh deep in the Lightning zone. With the puck clearly past Barkov, Hagel lined him up for a huge hit that sent the Panthers captain to the ice and thumping off the end boards.

A penalty was whistled, and the officials conferred before calling a “five-minute penalty.” After review, Hagel was given a 5-minute major for interference. Barkov left the game with 10:09 remaining in regulation and did not return to the Panthers’ 2-0 win.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after the game that he didn’t expect Hagel to receive a major penalty for the hit.

“Refs make the call. I was a little surprised it was a five, but it was,” he said.

The NHL ruled that Hagel’s hit made “some head contact” on Barkov.

“It’s important to note that Barkov is never in possession of the puck on this play and is therefore not eligible to be checked in any manner,” the league said.

In the Friday hearing, held remotely, Hagel argued that he approached the play anticipating that Barkov would play the puck. But the Department of Player Safety said the onus was on Hagel to ensure that Barkov was eligible to be checked. It also determined that the hit had “sufficient force” for supplemental discipline.

It’s Hagel’s first suspension in 375 regular-season and 36 playoff games. He was fined for boarding Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen in May 2022.

The Panthers held an optional skate Friday. Coach Paul Maurice said Barkov “hasn’t been ruled out yet” but “hasn’t been cleared” for Game 3.

“He’s an irreplicable player,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said of Barkov. “One of the best centermen in the league. He’s super important to our team.”

The Lightning lose Hagel while they struggle to score in the series; they scored two goals in Game 1 and were shut out in Game 2. Tampa Bay was the highest-scoring team in the regular season (3.56), with Hagel contributing 35 goals and 55 assists in 82 games.

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Goalies Montembeault, Dobes leave Caps-Habs

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Goalies Montembeault, Dobes leave Caps-Habs

The Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens lost their starting goalies because of injuries in Game 3 of their first-round series Friday night.

Canadiens starter Sam Montembeault was replaced by rookie Jakub Dobes, who made his playoff debut, in the second period. Capitals starter Logan Thompson left late in the third period after a collision with teammate Dylan Strome.

The Canadiens won 6-3 to cut their series deficit to 2-1.

Montembeault left the crease with 8:21 remaining in the second period and the score tied 2-2. Replays showed him reaching for the back of his left leg after making a save on Capitals defenseman Alex Alexeyev. Montembeault had stopped 11 of 13 shots. For the series, he stopped 58 of 63 shots (.921 save percentage) with a 2.49 goals-against average.

Dobes, 23, was 7-4-3 in 16 games for the Canadiens in the regular season with a .909 save percentage. Dobes had a win over the Capitals on Jan. 10, stopping 15 shots in a 3-2 overtime win.

Thompson was helped from the ice by a trainer and teammates after Strome collided with him with 6:37 left in regulation right after Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky made it a 5-3 Montreal lead. Thompson attempted to skate off on his own but couldn’t put weight down on his left leg.

Backup goalie Charlie Lindgren replaced Thompson, who had been outstanding for the Capitals in the first two games of the series, winning both with a .951 save percentage and a 1.47 goals-against average. He made 30 saves on 35 shots in Game 3.

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