Investigators Seize More Classified Documents From Biden’s Home - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Investigators for the Department of Justice connected Friday seized much than a half-dozen documents, immoderate of them classified, astatine President Biden’s residence successful Wilmington, Del., aft conducting a 13-hour hunt of the home, the president’s idiosyncratic lawyer said Saturday evening.

The singular hunt of a sitting president’s location by national agents — astatine the invitation of Mr. Biden’s lawyers — dramatically escalated the ineligible and governmental concern for the president, who has insisted that the erstwhile find of classified worldly astatine his location and erstwhile bureau would yet beryllium deemed inconsequential.

“There is nary determination there,” Mr. Biden told reporters connected Thursday evening during a travel to California.

But during Friday’s search, six much items with classified markings — including immoderate documents from his clip arsenic a legislator and others from his clip arsenic vice president — were taken by investigators, on with surrounding materials, according to the connection from Bob Bauer, Mr. Biden’s attorney.

Mr. Bauer did not bespeak what triggered the search, saying lone that the president’s lawyers had offered to supply entree for a hunt “in the involvement of moving the process guardant arsenic expeditiously arsenic possible.” Justice Department investigators coordinated the hunt with Mr. Biden’s lawyers up of time, Mr. Bauer said, and the president’s idiosyncratic and White House lawyers were contiguous astatine the time.

Mr. Bauer said that the Justice Department had requested that the hunt not beryllium made nationalist earlier it was conducted, “in accordance with its modular procedures, and we agreed to cooperate.”

The search, portion not a astonishment raid, underscored the seriousness of the probe into Mr. Biden’s handling of documents and successful immoderate ways resembled the extended hunt of erstwhile President Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property successful Florida past summer, with agents looking for classified documents they believed were successful Mr. Trump’s possession.

Mr. Biden and his aides person repeatedly argued that the 2 cases are precise antithetic due to the fact that the president has cooperated fully, portion Mr. Trump and his lawyers resisted efforts by the National Archives and the Justice Department to instrumentality documents. Mr. Trump and his advisers are besides nether probe for obstructing the inquiry.

But since the find of Mr. Biden’s documents, Mr. Trump has complained that Justice Department investigators were treating his successor differently.

“When is the F.B.I. going to raid the galore homes of Joe Biden, possibly adjacent the White House?” Mr. Trump wrote successful a connection posted to his societal media accounts earlier this month.

The results of Friday’s hunt travel a bid of discoveries of classified documents astatine the president’s Wilmington location and the Washington bureau Mr. Biden utilized earlier moving into the White House. Those documents — and Mr. Biden’s determination not to uncover their find for astir 2 months — caused the lawyer wide to name a peculiar counsel to investigate.

Investigators besides took “personally handwritten notes” by Mr. Biden from his clip arsenic vice president, Mr. Bauer said successful his connection connected Saturday.

“Yesterday, D.O.J. completed a thorough hunt of each the materials successful the president’s Wilmington home. It began astatine astir 9:45 a.m. and concluded astatine astir 10:30 p.m. and covered each working, surviving and retention spaces successful the home,” Mr. Bauer said. “D.O.J. had afloat entree to the president’s home, including personally handwritten notes, files, papers, binders, memorabilia, to-do lists, schedules, and reminders going backmost decades,” helium added.

Mr. Bauer did not marque wide successful his connection wherever successful the Wilmington location the documents were found. The erstwhile classified documents were recovered successful the home’s store and successful a adjacent retention space.

Another statement, from Richard Sauber, a subordinate of the White House Counsel’s Office, said that the hunt was conducted and finished astatine the location connected Friday, and neither the president oregon Jill Biden, the archetypal lady, were astatine the residence astatine the time.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Merrick B. Garland declined to remark erstwhile asked if Mr. Garland had been consulted successful beforehand astir the search. She referred each questions to a spokesperson for the recently appointed peculiar counsel successful the case, Robert K. Hur.

On Friday evening, adjacent arsenic investigators were inactive going done his home, Mr. Biden traveled to Rehoboth Beach, wherever helium owns different house, to walk the play there. The president’s lawyers person said they searched the Rehoboth Beach location earlier this period and recovered nary applicable documents. Officials person not said whether Justice Department investigators program to behaviour different hunt of the property.

In his connection connected Saturday, Mr. Bauer said that the president’s practice with investigators was grounds that Mr. Biden and the White House were acting successful bully faith.

“We person attempted to equilibrium the value of nationalist transparency wherever due with the established norms and limitations indispensable to support the investigation’s integrity,” helium wrote. “We volition proceed to bash truthful passim the people of our practice with D.O.J.”

But quality of the lengthy search, and the find of much classified materials, is definite to supply caller ammunition to the president’s critics, including Republican members of the House, who person already demanded accusation astir the documents and their imaginable interaction connected nationalist security.

In a missive to Ron Klain, the White House main of staff, past week, Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, demanded that the president and his lawyers supply much accusation to Congress.

“It is troubling that classified documents person been improperly stored astatine the location of President Biden for astatine slightest six years, raising questions astir who whitethorn person reviewed oregon had entree to classified information,” Mr. Comer wrote.