According to a statement released by President Trump’s personal attorney Bob Bauer, “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, some of which were from the President’s service in the Senate and some of which were from his tenure as Vice President.”
The search lasted nearly 13 hours on a Friday. Handwritten notes from the vice president’s time in office were also taken by the DOJ for additional study.
Those six things join those already discovered at Biden’s Wilmington home and office.
The FBI’s search of former President Trump’s residence was conducted under different circumstances than the one in which federal agents searched Biden’s home, but it nonetheless marks an escalation of the probe into the president’s handling of classified documents and will inevitably draw comparisons to him.
After receiving a subpoena to turn over secret records to the National Archives, Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, was searched by the FBI five months ago in an extraordinary move based on information suggesting Trump had not turned over all classified items in his possession.
A special counsel investigation, headed by Jack Smith, is looking into Trump’s handling of confidential information while he was at Mar-a-Lago.
Among the best political historians and journalists working is @vermontgmg. I devour Garrett Graff's books. Here is his analysis, brilliant as always, on the classified documents "saga" involving #Trump and @JoeBiden. @nytopinion https://t.co/n1j4iTzVR6
— Chris Bohjalian (@ChrisBohjalian) January 19, 2023
The search demonstrates the federal government’s eagerness to continue its investigation into the classified documents discovered in Biden’s possession. The investigation was overseen by US Attorney John Lausch, who was nominated by Trump and is currently in charge of the department’s preliminary review.
According to the source, Lausch’s initial evaluation did not include any searches of Biden properties. And he didn’t even bother to wait for the Biden team’s voluntary investigations to wrap up before requesting a special counsel.
Special Counsel Robert Hur has been on the job for a little over a week, but he is still getting settled in. “We expect Special Counsel Hur to be on board shortly,” a Justice Department spokesman told CNN.
Sources say the president’s legal team gave the FBI permission to search their client’s property. Also, as the Biden team revealed last week, the FBI previously gathered up documents from the property.
A source close to the investigation states that neither a search warrant nor a subpoena was necessary for the search.
Bauer stated that during the “thorough search,” which was conducted with “complete access” to the Biden home, representatives from both Biden’s personal legal team and the White House Counsel’s Office were there.
According to Bauer, “in accordance with its regular practices, the Department of Justice requested that the search not be made public in advance, and we agreed to cooperate.”
The Data Gathered Goes As Far Back As Biden’s Time In The Senate
Although CBS first reported the existence of the documents earlier this month, they were reportedly discovered in Biden’s private office on November 2.
A “limited number” of records with classified markings were discovered in the garage of Biden’s Wilmington house during a subsequent search in December, and a third finding was made at the Wilmington residence during a search conducted by Biden’s legal team in January. They discovered them in a space close to the garage.
According to a statement released by Bauer on January 11, it was stated that after discovering the secret documents, Biden’s personal attorneys left them where they were found and halted their search of the area.
During a tour of storm damage in California on Thursday, Biden said, “We found a handful of paperwork was filed in the wrong place.”
This article’s hints that anything Biden or his lawyers might’ve done differently before US Atty Lausch left his post on 1/5 might’ve prevented the AG’s inevitable naming of a special counsel to complete the inquiry is inconsistent with how DOJ operates. https://t.co/vFOlZStJgD
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) January 19, 2023
Ultimately, I believe you’ll discover nothing of interest. Biden went on, “I have no regrets,” on Thursday.
According to a statement by President Trump’s special counsel Richard Sauber, neither Vice President Joe Biden nor First Lady Dr. Jill Biden were present for the search.
According to the email, “Vice President Biden has been dedicated to handling this appropriately because he takes this seriously,” and he and his team are “working fast to assure the Department of Justice and the Special Counsel have what they need to complete a full assessment.”
Bauer stated that the search of Biden’s house uncovered “personally handwritten notes, files, papers, binders, souvenirs, to-do lists, timetables, and reminders going back decades.”
Vice President Biden will be in his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home this weekend. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday that Biden “frequently travels to Delaware on the weekends,” but forwarded questions about records recovered at his Wilmington residence to the White House counsel’s office and the Department of Justice.
