CNN
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The FBI has completed a search of President Joe Biden’s Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, residence and found no documents marked as classified, according to people familiar with the matter.
Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Ball, confirmed earlier in the morning that investigators were searching his home. Ball said the search was planned and had Biden’s “full support and cooperation.”
“In accordance with the Department of Justice’s standard procedures, in the interests of operational security and integrity, it attempted to conduct this work without prior public notice, and we have agreed to cooperate,” Ball said. “Today’s search is one that we will continue to fully support and facilitate. Another step in the comprehensive and timely DOJ process. We will have more information at the conclusion of today’s search.”
Reporters in the coastal community observed black sport utility vehicles and sedans arriving at the home in the middle of the morning.
Biden’s personal attorney had previously searched the Rehoboth home on Jan. 11 but found no classified documents.
The FBI raid in Rehoboth marked the third time federal agents have searched properties tied to Biden for classified material.
The FBI previously searched Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and found multiple items that his attorney said contained classified material. The search took place on January 20. Biden’s attorneys had previously found documents at the Wilmington home and suspended searches of specific spaces where other documents were found. It’s unclear whether the documents the FBI found were in the same space or elsewhere in the house.
The FBI also raided the Washington offices of the Biden Center in Pennsylvania in mid-November after Biden’s lawyers first discovered classified material in a locked closet at a think tank.
No warrant was required for any of the searches, including Wednesday’s in Rehoboth, according to a person familiar with the matter. Biden’s team emphasized that they are cooperating with the Justice Department as it investigates the documents issue.
After Biden stepped down as vice president, he purchased his home in Rehoboth. He and his wife spend occasional weekends there, most recently January 20-23.
The search came on the day the Justice Department announced that special counsel Robert Hull had officially begun its investigation into overseeing Biden’s handling of classified documents. Hur succeeds U.S. Attorney John Lausch, who conducted the initial review that has since become a full-scale criminal investigation.
Hur, who previously served as U.S. Attorney in Maryland, was nominated by then-President Donald Trump for the job in 2017. He will hold the position until his resignation in 2021. In that job, Hur played a key role in a number of high-level personal-data cases, including a children’s book scandal involving then-Baltimore mayor Katherine Pugh that resulted in Pugh being sentenced to three years in prison.
He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to serve as U.S. attorney in 2018, when he was praised by two Democratic senators from Maryland who expressed confidence in his ability to handle key issues facing the state.
Before joining the U.S. Department of Justice, Hur served as a legal clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist and as a clerk to federal appellate judge Alex Kozinski.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.