An FBI search at President Joe Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, has unearthed more classified documents.
The search was conducted on Friday and lasted 13 hours, the president's personal attorney Bob Bauer said. "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. DOJ also took for further review personally handwritten notes from the vice-presidential years," the statement added.
Biden's handling of classified documents came into focus earlier this month after reports said sensitive classified documents from the time he served as the Vice-President were found at the offices of his think in Washington. The materials found stashed in the private office included some top-secret files that hold the designation of 'sensitive compartmented information. This designation is given to documents that contain information garnered from intelligence sources.
The Department of Justice also found some notes that the president had personally handwritten during the search. Biden's lawyer said the president offered access to his home to allow DOJ to conduct a search of the entire premises for potential vice-presidential records and potential classified material.
The six items discovered at the home had classification markings and were related to Biden's time as a senator. The president and his wife were not present during the search.
Escalation
The search at the Delaware home marks an escalation of the political unease the President and the White House have been experiencing after classified files were found at the offices of the Penn-Biden think tank in Washington earlier this month.
Biden had led the Democrats in condemning former President Donald Trump after classified documents were found at his Mar-a Lago home six months ago. Biden had said this was a case of extreme lack of responsibility for Trump. The former president, on his turn, had skewered Biden, asking if this would warrant a search of the White House.
"When is the F.B.I. going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?" Trump had said.
