The FBI conducted two searches of the University of Delaware as part of the investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents, according to a new report.
A source told CNN the searches were conducted in recent weeks with the cooperation of Biden’s legal team. Materials taken in the searches did not appear to have classified markings, but they are now under review by the FBI, the source added.
The University of Delaware and FBI deferred comment to the Justice Department (DOJ). The Daily Wire reached out to the DOJ for comment. Neither Biden’s attorneys nor the White House released any statements on the newly revealed searches as of 9 p.m. ET Wednesday, but the president’s representatives have said in the past they did not want to get ahead of investigators.
The documents controversy dates back to early November, when Biden’s attorneys found about 10 records marked classified while clearing out Biden’s office at the Penn Biden Center, according to his legal team. However, the discovery was not revealed to the public until CBS News broke the story of an inquiry by U.S. Attorney John Lausch.
Following the initial review by Lausch, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to examine whether “any person or entity violated the law in connection with this matter.”
FBI searches have since taken place at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, his beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware, and the Penn Biden Center, a think tank located in Washington, D.C.
Classified documents dating back to Biden’s time as vice president or even as a U.S. senator have been found at the Wilmington location, but no such materials with classified markings were discovered at the Rehoboth location. Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer has acknowledged the Justice Department took some materials and handwritten notes from the Rehoboth residence that appear to relate to Biden’s time as vice president for further review.
Biden graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965 with a double major in history and political science. The university’s website says more than 1,850 boxes of archival records from Biden’s Senate career arrived at the University of Delaware Library on June 6, 2012, and they will not be made available until two years after Biden retires from public life. The university is also the home of the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was among those who had called on the federal investigators to search Biden’s Senate records that are stored at the University of Delaware to see if they contained classified materials.
Classified documents have also been found in the homes of former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, prompting the National Archives to call on other former presidents and vice presidents to check for such materials.
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