Additional classified documents found at Biden’s home

Washington, Jan 21 (EFE).- Personnel from the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) discovered additional classified materials during a search of President Joe Biden’s residence in Wilmington, Delaware, his personal attorney said Saturday.

“DoJ took possession of materials it deemed within the scope of its inquiry, including six items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding materials,” Bob Bauer said.

All of the documents dated from Biden’s 1973-2009 service as a senator from Delaware or from his 2009-2017 tenure as vice president under President Barack Obama, the lawyer said.

The search took place Friday and was not announced in advance at DoJ’s request, Bauer said.

“It began at approximately 9:45 AM and concluded at around 10:30 PM and covered all working, living and storage spaces in the home,” he said in a statement. “By agreement with DOJ, representatives of both the personal legal team and the White House Counsel’s Office were present.”

The DoJ investigation began in November pursuant to the discovery of classified materials in a Washington office Biden used between 2017 and the launch of his 2020 presidential campaign, but the probe did not become public until this month.

Last week, a total of six documents were found at the Wilmington residence and Biden’s legal subsequently invited the DoJ to conduct their own search “in the interest of moving the process forward as expeditiously as possible,” Bauer said.

“By agreement with DoJ, representatives of both the personal legal team and the White House Counsel’s Office were present” for Friday’s search, he said.

Investigators had complete access, Bauer said, and were able to examine “personally handwritten notes, files, papers, binders, memorabilia, to-do lists, schedules, and reminders going back decades.”

On Jan. 12, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to take charge of the investigation.

Months ago, Garland named a special counsel for the case involving classified materials recovered from former President Donald Trump’s residence in Florida during a search by the FBI.

Rejecting comparisons between the cases, Democrats said that DoJ resorted to an aggressive approach toward Trump because the Republican mogul failed to return official documents that he had no right to have removed from the White House.

But the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives demanded the appointment of a special counsel for the Biden case in the interest of fairness. EFE mgr/dr