WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI raided President Joe Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home on Friday, uncovering more classified-marked documents and taking some of his handwritten notes.
The fact that the president voluntarily allowed the FBI into his home without a warrant does not obscure the exceptional nature of the search. That added to Biden’s embarrassment that began with his Jan. 1 disclosure. 12 The President’s Counsel ‘Small amount’ of classified records found in former offices of Pennsylvania’s Biden Center In Washington shortly before the midterm elections.Since then, lawyers have uncovered six classified Documents from Biden’s Wilmington home Ku from his time as vice president.
Although Biden has always insisted that “there is no”, As he prepares to run for re-election, the findings have become a political liability, undermining his efforts to project a image of decency For the American public after the tumultuous presidency of his predecessor, Donald Trump.
During a search that lasted nearly 13 hours Friday, the FBI seized six items containing documents marked as classified, the president’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer, said. He said the items covered Biden’s time in the Senate and vice presidency, and the notes dated to his time as vice president. While the Justice Department reviewed the records, it was unclear the level of classification and whether the documents deleted by the FBI remained classified.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Fitzpatrick confirmed Saturday that the FBI had conducted a “planned, consensual search” of the president’s Wilmington residence.
The president and first lady Jill Biden were not home at the time of the search. They spent the weekend at their home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Biden told reporters during a visit to California on Thursday that he “fully cooperates and looks forward to resolving this issue as quickly as possible.”
“We found that some documents were filed in the wrong place,” Biden said. “We immediately turned them over to the archives and to the Department of Justice.”
It remains to be seen whether federal officials or other locations will conduct additional searches. Biden’s personal attorneys previously searched the Rehoboth Beach residence and said they found no official documents or classified records.
The Biden investigation also complicates the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents and official records after he left office. The Justice Department said Trump took hundreds of records marked classified when he left the White House in early 2021 and has resisted months of demands to return them to the government, which must obtain a search warrant to retrieve them .
Ball said the FBI asked the White House not to comment on the search until it took place, and that Biden’s personal attorney and White House counsel were present. He added that the FBI “has full access to the President’s residence, including autographed notes, files, files, binders, memorabilia, to-do lists, calendars, and reminders from decades ago.”
He added that the Justice Department “is in possession of material it believes to be within the scope of its investigation, including six items consisting of classified-marked documents and surrounding material, some from the president’s service in the Senate and some from his time as The Vice President’s term begins.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed former Maryland U.S. Attorney Robert Hull Investigate any potential wrongdoing surrounding the Biden files as special counsel. Hur will succeed Trump-appointed Illinois U.S. Attorney John Lausch to oversee the investigation.
“From the beginning, the president has been committed to handling this responsibly because he takes it seriously,” White House counsel Richard Sauber said Saturday. “The President’s counsel and the White House Counsel’s Office will continue to work with the Department of Justice and the Special Counsel to help ensure this process proceeds expeditiously and efficiently.”
Biden document discovery and Trump investigation headed by special counsel Jack Smith, are significantly different.Biden stresses cooperating with DOJ investigations every time — Friday’s raid was voluntary — despite questions about his transparency the rest of the public.
For a crime to have been committed, a person must have “deliberately removed” files without authorization and intended to keep them in an “unauthorized location.” Biden has said he was “surprised” to find classified documents at the Biden Center in Pennsylvania.
Typically, classified documents are declassified after a maximum of 25 years. But some records are so valuable that they are kept secret for much longer, although specific exceptions must be allowed. Biden served in the Senate from 1973 to 2009.
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Associated Press Writer Seung Min Kim in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, contributed to this report.