By Jeff Mason and Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (RockedBuzz via Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department found no documents with confidential marks during a three-and-a-half-hour search of President Joe Biden’s beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware, but did take some materials for a further investigation. revision. said the lawyer.
The morning search by FBI agents appeared to represent an expansion of the investigation into Biden’s handling of confidential documents.
The materials were previously found at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and in a Washington office he used during the time between his service as vice president under Barack Obama and his presidential election.
Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer said in a statement that Wednesday’s strip search occurred from 8:30 to noon in “coordination and cooperation with the president’s attorneys” and had been planned.
“No documents with confidential markings were found,” Bauer said. “Consistent with the Wilmington process, the DOJ has taken for further review certain materials and handwritten notes that appear to relate to his time as vice president.”
The research was conducted by the FBI, which is part of the Justice Department.
The matter has created a political headache for Biden, who is expected to announce a re-election campaign in the coming weeks or months. It deprived him and other Democrats of a political weapon to use against former President Donald Trump, who also had classified documents found in his home.
Trump claimed on social media, without providing evidence, that he had declassified the documents, although his lawyers have refused to repeat that claim in court documents. He has launched his re-election campaign and could face Biden in the 2024 general election.
Bauer said earlier Wednesday that the Justice Department chose to do the research without public notice.
“In accordance with standard DOJ procedures, in the interests of operational safety and integrity, it attempted to perform this work without notice, and we agreed to cooperate,” he said. “Today’s research is another step in a thorough and timely DOJ process that we will continue to fully support and facilitate.”
The White House counsel’s office had no representatives present at the search, White House spokesman Ian Sams told reporters.
“We followed the Justice Department’s lead and coordinated these searches with them,” Sams said, adding that the department was granted access to “every single room” of Biden’s Rehoboth home “as well as that of Wilmington”.
Confidential documents were also found in the home of former Trump vice president Mike Pence, who provided political cover for Biden.
Biden promised to cooperate in the search and Pence said he took responsibility for the documents found. Trump resisted efforts to return materials in his possession, prompting an FBI search of his Florida home and resort last year.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed two separate special counsels to look into Trump’s and Biden’s handling of those documents.
Meanwhile, the National Archives has reportedly asked all former US presidents and vice presidents to search their personal files for confidential documents or other presidential materials that should have been handed over when they left office.
It is illegal to knowingly or intentionally remove or retain confidential material, although no current or former president or vice president has been charged with any wrongdoing.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Heather Timmons and Daniel Wallis)
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