Even President Jimmy Carter found classified documents in his home after ... trends now
Former President Jimmy Carter once found classified documents in his home, according to a new report, illustrating the long-running nature of the records-control issues now plaguing President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Carter found the classified materials at his home in Plains, Georgia and returned them to the National Archives, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press on Tuesday.
The revelation comes as former Vice President Mike Pence also discovered classified records in his home, saying that like Biden he had turned them over willingly after a search he had requested.
Carter, a Democrat, left office in 1981, but it is unclear at what point the classified documents were discovered at his home and handed in.
President Jimmy Carter is seen on his final day in office, a hectic period marked by negotiations to resolve the Iran hostage crisis
Sometime after leaving office, Carter reportedly found the classified materials at his home in Plains, Georgia (above) and returned them to the National Archives
A spokesperson for the Carter Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com outside of business hours on Wednesday.
Carter himself signed the Presidential Records Act in 1978 -- but it did not apply to records of his administration, only taking effect years later when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated.
Before Reagan, presidential records were generally considered the private property of the president individually.
Nonetheless, Carter invited federal archivists to assist his White House in organizing his records in preparation for their eventual repository at his presidential library in Georgia.
The reported discovery of classified documents would have occurred at the Carter family home at 209 Woodland Drive -- which was built by Carter and his wife Rosalynn in 1960, and is the only home the couple has ever owned.
January 19, 1981 was the final full day of Carter's only White House term, and was marked by a frenzy of activity as his administration completed 11th hour negotiations to resolve the Iran hostage crisis.
The fact that Carter, now aged 98, appears to have inadvertently taken classified documents home to Georgia decades ago only serves to illustrate the longstanding issues around control and handling of such records at the highest levels
The reported discovery of classified documents would have occurred at the Carter family home at 209 Woodland Drive, the only home Carter and his wife have ever owned
The 52 Americans were freed the following day, in the first hours of Reagan's administration, but Carter stayed up through the night as reports of the final negotiations trickled in.
'As Carter waited in the Oval Office all night Monday for news,
