Biden, Obama and the Media Have Fun with Joe’s "Top Secret" Slip

Vice President Joe Biden is no stranger to the "foot in mouth" episodes that seem to plague a small cadre of colorful politicians. Now, it seems he "almost" divulged top secret information. Eleanor Clift, a blogger for Newsweek, noted in a recent article that Vice President Joe Biden was "at it again" when he unintentionally revealed top secret information about the location of the vice president’s secret bunker. Clift wrote over the weekend that Biden had told those seated around him at the annual dinner at the Gridiron Club about the location of a secret bunker that former VP Dick Cheney is believed to have occupied immediately after the September 11 attacks.

The Gridiron Club dinner, typically attended by the president, was the domain of Biden this year, as Obama had to decline. Each year, the dinner is held at the exclusive journalists club and offers an opportunity for top politicians and journalists to meet and talk. Biden had a great time at the dinner, showing off his charm when we poked fun at Obama and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. But, according to Clift, Biden revealed the location of the bunker.

Wrote Clift, "a young naval officer giving Biden a tour of the residence showed him the hideaway, which is behind a massive steel door secured by an elaborate lock with a narrow connecting hallways lined with shelves filled with communications equipment." Biden’s spokeswoman was quick to refute the claims made by Clift, noting, "What the Vice President described in his comments was not — as some press reports have suggested — an underground facility, but rather, an upstairs workspace in the residence, which he understood was frequently used by Vice President Cheney and his aides. That workspace was converted into an upstairs guest room when the Bidens moved into the residence. There was no disclosure of classified information."