Vice President Joe Biden (AP photo)
Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified
information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president.
According
to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in
Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite
get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinnermates
about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval
Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president.
The bunker is believed to be the secure, undisclosed location former Vice President
Dick Cheney remained under protection in secret after the 9/11 attacks.
Eleanor Clift, Newsweek magazine's Washington
contributing editor,
saidBiden revealed the location while filling in for President Obama at the
dinner, who, along with Grover Cleveland, is the only president to skip
the gathering.
According to the report,
Biden "said a young naval officer giving him 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 hallway lined with
shelves filled with communications equipment."
Clift continued: "The officer explained that
when Cheney was in lock down, this was where his most trusted aides were stationed, an image that Biden conveyed in a way
that suggested we shouldn't be surprised that the policies that emerged were off the wall."
In
December 2002, neighbors complained of loud construction work being
done at the Naval Observatory, which has been used as a residence by
vice presidents since 1974.
The upset neighbors were sent a letter by the observatory's superintendent, calling the work "sensitive
in nature" and "classified" and that it was urgent it be completed "on a highly accelerated schedule."
Residents
said they believed workers were digging deep into the ground, which
would support Biden's report of a secret bunker, but officials never
confirmed the purpose of the work performed.
The revelation is the latest from Biden, who has a long history of
political blunders.
Most
recently, he said in a televised interview that if a family member
asked him about traveling he'd advise staying away from public
transportation or confined spaces to avoid swine flu –– a remark
described as "borderline fearmongering" by an airline spokesman.
