The Justice Department seized additional classified records from President Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware home following an FBI search on Friday.
“On January 20, 2023, the FBI executed a planned, consensual search of the President’s residence in Wilmington, Delaware,” Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, an assistant US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, told Fox News on Saturday.
Prior to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Hur, Lausch was the DOJ official in charge of the investigation into Biden’s improper retention of classified records. According to Fox News, Lausch is still playing an important role in the investigation as Hur gets up to speed.
The FBI search began at 9:45 a.m. on Friday and ended around 10:30 p.m. on Friday.
According to Bob Bauer, Biden’s personal attorney, the search included “all working, living, and storage spaces in the home.”
“From the beginning of this matter, the President directed his personal attorneys to cooperate fully with the Department of Justice,” Bauer said. “As a result, having previously identified and reported to DOJ a small number of documents with classification markings at the President’s Wilmington home, we offered to provide prompt access to his home to allow DOJ to conduct a search of the entire premises for potential vice-presidential records and potential classified material.”
According to Bauer, representatives from both Biden’s personal legal team and the White House Counsel’s Office were present for the search as part of an agreement with the Justice Department. The president and first lady were not present during the search.
“The DOJ had complete access to the President’s residence, including personally handwritten notes, files, papers, binders, memorabilia, to-do lists, schedules, and reminders dating back decades,” Bauer continued.
“The DOJ took possession of materials it deemed within the scope of its investigation, including six items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding materials, some from the President’s service in the Senate and some from his tenure as Vice President,” Bauer said. “The DOJ also took personally handwritten notes from the vice-presidential years for further review.”
Biden left the United States Senate in 2008 to become former President Barack Obama’s vice president.
Bauer went on to say that the president’s team “attempted to balance the importance of public transparency where appropriate with the established norms and limitations required to protect the integrity of the investigation.”
“We will continue to do so throughout our collaboration with the DOJ,” Bauer said.
While Bauer’s statement mentions the Justice Department seizing “six items consisting of documents with classification markings,” the exact number of classified documents seized during the search is unknown.
“The President’s lawyers and the White House Counsel’s Office will continue to cooperate with the DOJ and the Special Counsel to help ensure this process is carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible,” White House counsel Richard Sauber said in a statement Saturday evening.
The investigation comes just a week after Attorney General Merrick Garland named U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to look into the president’s possible unauthorized removal and improper retention of classified documents and records discovered at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., and his private residence in Wilmington, Delaware.
On November 2, 2022, classified records were discovered inside the Penn Biden Center think tank’s offices in Washington, D.C., but were only recently made public.
A second cache of classified documents was discovered inside the president’s garage in Wilmington. Additional classified documents were discovered in the president’s home over the weekend.
The White House has repeatedly declined to comment on the contents of the classified records, as well as the levels of the classification, saying instead that the records “have been turned over to proper authorities and will be part of the ongoing investigation.
