WASHINGTON (CN) — FBI agents searched President Joe Biden’s beach home in Rehoboth, Delaware, on Wednesday, as part of a probe by the Department of Justice into the potential mishandling of classified records.
The search was planned with “the president’s full support and cooperation,” Biden attorney Bob Bauer said in a statement.
"The search today is a further step in a thorough and timely DOJ process we will continue to fully support and facilitate," Bauer said.
Wednesday’s search is the latest step in the Department of Justice investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents after the president's personal lawyers discovered classified materials at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in November.
When the Department of Justice searched the Washington-based think tank's headquarters back on Nov. 2, it discovered about 10 documents with classified markings from former President Barack Obama's time in office. Biden had been vice president in that administration. His presidential administration waited until this past January to disclose last year's search, which occurred only one day before midterm elections.
FBI agents also searched Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Jan. 20 after the White House announced the discovery of classified records there.
Bauer said the president voluntarily consented to the FBI’s 13-hour search of his home. Agents found six additional documents containing classification markings and also took possession of some of his notes, the lawyer said.
It was not immediately clear if agents recovered any classified records during Wednesday’s search. Representatives at the Justice Department declined to comment.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed special counsel Robert Hur, a former top federal prosecutor in Baltimore, to oversee the Biden documents probe. Hur is expected to begin his work this week.
Biden said last month that he is “fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly.”
A similar Justice Department probe into former President Donald Trump’s potential mishandling of classified records is being overseen by special counsel Jack Smith, whom Garland appointed in November.
Trump is under investigation for removing government records from the White House at the end of his single term as president on Jan. 20, 2021, and storing them at his 12-acre Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach.
Last month, former Vice President Mike Pence’s attorney said FBI agents found documents with classified markings at his Indiana residence on Jan. 19.
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