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The FBI searched President Joe Biden’s office after he left the vice presidency in November after classified documents were discovered there, according to reports.
The White House or Biden’s personal attorneys had not previously disclosed the search of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.
Special counsels are looking into both Biden and Trump for mishandling classified documents.
It was also reported last week that Trump’s Vice President, Mike Pence, had classified documents in his Indiana home.
An office building housing the Penn Biden Center, a think tank affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, is seen in Washington, DC, January 10, 2023, following reports that classified documents from the time when US President Joe Biden served as Barack Obama’s vice president were discovered at the center, which Biden used as office space at times.
An office building housing the Penn Biden Center, a think tank affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, is seen in Washington, DC, January 10, 2023, following reports that classified documents from the time when US President Joe Biden served as Barack Obama’s vice president were discovered at the center, which Biden used as office space at times.
FBI agents searched President Joe Biden’s office after his vice presidency in Washington, D.C., in mid-November after his lawyers discovered classified documents there earlier that month, according to two senior law enforcement officials.
Even as they faced weeks of questions about the discovery of classified records, the White House and Biden’s personal attorneys had not previously disclosed the search of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. On Tuesday, CBS reported that the FBI was conducting a search.
According to the officials, Biden’s lawyers fully cooperated with the search, and the Justice Department did not issue a search warrant. Biden’s team also collaborated with the Justice Department on a later FBI search of his Wilmington, Delaware, home, for which no warrant was issued.
On November 2, the president’s personal attorneys discovered documents at the think tank office. The attorneys notified the National Archives, which prompted the Justice Department to launch an investigation. However, the White House did not disclose the development until Jan. 9, when it was reported.
On January 12, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate.
Biden’s attorneys later discovered additional documents at the president’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Dec. 20, prompting an FBI search of the residence on Jan. 20. According to Biden’s personal lawyers, Justice Department investigators discovered more than a half-dozen additional documents, some marked classified, during the search. The documents discovered cover his time in the Senate as well as his time as Vice President under former President Barack Obama.
Former President Donald Trump is also being investigated by a special counsel for failing to turn over classified documents. In early August, FBI agents searched his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate. Unlike Biden, who agreed to let agents search his home, the Justice Department issued a search warrant to Trump after some back and forth.
It was also reported last week that Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, had classified documents in his Indiana home.