A report in the Washington Post says there was a "shared understanding" between the White House and the Department of Justice to keep President Biden's classified documents hidden. 

While some have speculated that the Biden document controversy is part of some kind of palace coup, the report, which was flagged by Breitbart, suggests an effort by the Justice Department to protect Biden from scrutiny.

Is DOJ helping Biden?

Many have questioned why Biden wasn't more forthcoming about the classified files, which were initially discovered at a think tank named after Biden in November.

The Biden team has harped incessantly on how they "immediately" handed the documents over to the Justice Department, but the department apparently felt no sense of urgency about making the issue public.

"Early on, Biden’s attorneys and Justice Department investigators both thought they had a shared understanding about keeping the matter quiet,” the Post reported.

When the Biden documents were made public last week, the existence of a second set of files found in Biden's garage was not immediately made known. The White House cited the Justice Department's investigation as a reason not to divulge more, The Post's report said.

"White House officials confirmed the scoop, but since the investigation was ongoing, they decided not to offer any additional details — including the critical information that a second batch of documents had been discovered at Biden’s home.”

Independence, or collusion?

The White House has repeatedly touted the supposed "independence" of the DOJ under Biden, which they say was demonstrated by the appointment of a Special Counsel -- months after the documents were initially handed over to the department.

Far from "independence," the DOJ appears to have shown Biden quite a bit of deference since the files were found.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the DOJ declined to send FBI agents to watch over the document search because Biden's team was "cooperating."

That's a stark contrast from how the department treated former President Trump, whose home was the target of an unprecedented FBI raid last year.

White House not budging

The White House's caginess has raised questions about what Biden may be hiding, but the administration won't budge.

Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre again refused to answer questions at Friday's press briefing after Biden said he had "no regrets" about how he handled things. Jean-Pierre deferred to the Department of Justice's ongoing investigation as an excuse to stay quiet, something she has done repeatedly.

"I'm not going to comment on that piece at all from here. I'm just going to continue to be prudent and consistent and respect the Department of Justice process," Jean-Pierre said.