The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) recently searched the University of Delaware for classified documents as part of the investigation into the alleged mishandling of sensitive and classified documents and records by President Joe Biden.
The search, which CNN first reported, was confirmed by an insider who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the situation and spoke on a condition of anonymity. The individual would only confirm if something was located.
The special counsel for the Justice Department is looking into how classified documents from Biden’s time serving as a senator and vice president winded up in his former office and home and whether any mishandling was unintentional or involved criminal intent.
In January, personal lawyers for the president disclosed that a small batch of classified documents had been found weeks earlier in his former office in the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., and have since allowed additional FBI searches of several properties.
In 2011, Biden donated the records from his 36 years of serving in the U.S. Senate to his alma mater. According to the university, the documents were delivered on June 6, 2012. It released photographs of the delivery, in numbered boxes, being unloaded alongside gold and blue balloons.
Under terms of the president’s gift, records remain sealed until two years after he retires from public life.
President Biden’s Senate records are not covered by the presidential record act, although restrictions on mishandling classified documents and information would still apply.
White House, Justice Department had no comment on report
The White House would not comment on the report and referred questions to the Justice Department, which did not issue a comment. There has yet to be a comment from the University of Delaware, which also referred to the Justice Department.
The university is the fourth location the FBI has inspected after searches of his former office at Penn Biden Center, the president’s Delaware home in Wilmington, and his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach.
According to President Biden’s lawyer, the FBI confiscated six items with classified markings during its January search of the Wilmington residence. Agents did not locate classified documents at the president’s Rehoboth Beach property but did take some materials and handwritten notes related to Biden’s time as vice president for review.
The Justice Department is reportedly separately investigating the retention of documents by former President Donald Trump, located at his Florida Mar-a-Lago residence. The FBI raided the residence in August.
The FBI also searched the Indiana home of former Vice President Mike Pence after Pence’s lawyers said they had found a small number of classified documents. According to Pence’s advisor, one additional document was located during the following search.
