Joe Biden’s Delaware home searched by FBI in probe over official documents
The US President is being investigated over his handling of classified material
The FBI has been searching President Joe Biden’s Delaware home as part of an investigation into classified documents, his lawyer has revealed.
Mr Biden’s attorney Bob Bauer said the search was “planned” with the president’s “full support”.
CBS has reported that the investigation relates to a wider probe into the handling of classified documents.
Mr Bauer, said the search was carried out “without advance public notice” in the interests of “operational security and integrity”.
The search is the latest in a series carried out at various locations, after classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center - an office space - in Washington DC in November.
More documents were discovered at another of Mr Biden’s homes in Wilmington, Delaware, in searches conducted in December and January.
The number of classified records recovered remains unclear although at least a dozen were found during the January searches, it has been reported.
Mr Biden has said his team did “what they should have done” by alerting officials immediately, and that they are “co-operating fully and completely” with the investigation.
After the first of January’s searches, Mr Biden told reporters the files were in a locked garage.
“It’s not like they are sitting in the street,” he said.
Special counsel Robert Hur officially began his duties overseeing the probe into the documents on Monday.
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence have also been embroiled in controversy over the handling of classified documents.
In Mr Pence’s case, a “small number of documents bearing classified markings” were found at his home in Carmel, Indiana, according to a letter sent to the National Archives by his lawyer.
The documents were recovered by the FBI from a safe at the property on 19 January, with two boxes more delivered to the Archives on 23 January.
An August 2022 search of Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida uncovered dozens of boxes and about 11,000 documents, including about 100 with classified markings.
The search warrant came after attorneys representing Mr Trump had said all government records were returned. Mr Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and claimed that he had declassified the documents taken with him.
Mr Biden’s attorney Bob Bauer said the search was “planned” with the president’s “full support”.
CBS has reported that the investigation relates to a wider probe into the handling of classified documents.
Mr Bauer, said the search was carried out “without advance public notice” in the interests of “operational security and integrity”.
The search is the latest in a series carried out at various locations, after classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center - an office space - in Washington DC in November.
More documents were discovered at another of Mr Biden’s homes in Wilmington, Delaware, in searches conducted in December and January.
The number of classified records recovered remains unclear although at least a dozen were found during the January searches, it has been reported.
Mr Biden has said his team did “what they should have done” by alerting officials immediately, and that they are “co-operating fully and completely” with the investigation.
After the first of January’s searches, Mr Biden told reporters the files were in a locked garage.
“It’s not like they are sitting in the street,” he said.
Special counsel Robert Hur officially began his duties overseeing the probe into the documents on Monday.
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence have also been embroiled in controversy over the handling of classified documents.
In Mr Pence’s case, a “small number of documents bearing classified markings” were found at his home in Carmel, Indiana, according to a letter sent to the National Archives by his lawyer.
The documents were recovered by the FBI from a safe at the property on 19 January, with two boxes more delivered to the Archives on 23 January.
An August 2022 search of Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida uncovered dozens of boxes and about 11,000 documents, including about 100 with classified markings.
The search warrant came after attorneys representing Mr Trump had said all government records were returned. Mr Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and claimed that he had declassified the documents taken with him.