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The U.S. Department of Justice found no classified documents during a three-and-a-half-hour search of President Joe Biden’s beach house in Rehoboth, Del., on Wednesday.
But Biden’s attorney said investigators are taking some of the material for further review.
The morning search by FBI agents appears to be an expansion of the investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents.
The previous material was found after a 13-hour search on January 20 at his home in Wilmington, Dela., and at the Washington office he used during the time between his service as vice president under Barack Obama and the presidential election.
Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer, said in a statement that Wednesday’s search was conducted from 8:30 a.m. ET until noon in “coordination and cooperation with the president’s attorney” and had been planned.
“No documents with classified markings have been found,” Bauer said. “Consistent with the proceedings in Wilmington, the DOJ recovered several materials and handwritten notes that appeared to be related to his time as Vice President.”
Political headache
The issue creates a political headache for Biden, who is expected to announce his re-election campaign in the coming weeks or months.
It has stripped him and his fellow Democrats of weapons against former president Donald Trump, who has also classified documents found in front.
Trump has launched his own re-election campaign and could face Biden in the 2024 general election.
Bauer said earlier Wednesday that the Justice Department chose to conduct the search without prior notice to the public.
“Under standard DOJ procedures, in the interests of security and operational integrity, they sought to do this work without public notice, and we agreed to cooperate,” he said.
Classified documents were also found at the home of Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, giving Biden some political cover.
2 special advisors
Biden vowed to cooperate with the search and Pence said he was responsible for the documents found. Trump has resisted efforts to return the materials he had, prompting the FBI to search his Florida home and resort last year.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed two separate special counsels to examine Trump and Biden’s handling of the documents.
Meanwhile, the National Archives is reportedly asking all former US presidents and vice presidents to search their personal records for classified documents or other presidential material that should have been turned over when they left office.
It is illegal to intentionally or intentionally remove or withhold classified material, even if no current or former president or vice president has been charged with wrongdoing.
The Archives sent letters to representatives of former presidents and vice presidents returning to Ronald Reagan to ensure compliance with the Presidential Records Act, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.
The Act states that records created or received by the president are the property of the US government and will be maintained by the Archives at the end of the administration.
Biden’s lawyers discovered secret documents from his time as vice president in a locked cabinet while packing up his unused office in November 2022.
Since then, subsequent searches by the FBI and Biden’s lawyers have produced more documents.
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