Justice Department officials found no classified documents when they searched Joe Biden’s beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware. The search took place on Wednesday and lasted three and a half hours, but some documents were seized for further study, a presidential lawyer said on Wednesday.
The morning search by FBI agents appeared to be part of an investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents.
The classified material was previously found at his Wilmington home and at the Washington think tank office where Biden worked between his tenure as vice president under President Barack Obama and his arrival at the White House in January 2021.
Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer, said the search took place between 8:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Wednesday as part of “coordination and cooperation with the president’s attorneys” and was planned.
“No classified documents were found,” Bauer said. – As in Wilmington, the Department of Justice has taken for further study certain documents and handwritten notes which appear to relate to the stay [Байдена] as Vice President.”
The search was conducted by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is part of the Department of Justice.
The discovery of classified documents has become a problem for Biden, who is expected to announce the start of the campaign in the coming weeks or months. That left the president and his fellow Democrats with no political weapon to use against Donald Trump, who also had secret documents in his Florida home.
Trump claimed on social media, without providing evidence, that he had declassified the tapes, although his lawyers declined to repeat that claim in court filings.
Representatives of White House attorneys were not present during the search, White House spokesman Ian Sams told reporters.
“We followed Justice Department instructions and coordinated this search with them,” Sams said, adding that FBI agents gained access to “every room” in Biden’s Rehoboth home, as well as his home in Wilmington.
Secret documents were also found at the home of former Trump vice president Mike Pence.
Biden promised to cooperate with the investigation and Pence said he takes responsibility for the documents found. Trump resisted attempts to return documents in his possession, prompting the FBI to search his estate in Florida last year.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed two special prosecutors to review Trump and Biden’s handling of classified documents.
Meanwhile, the National Archives has asked all former presidents and vice presidents nationwide to search their personal archives for classified documents or other presidential documents that were due for filing after they left the White House.
It is illegal to knowingly or willfully destroy or possess classified material, although no current or former president or vice president has ever been charged with such an offense.
