The FBI searched the University of Delaware in recent weeks for classified documents as part of its investigation into US President Joe Biden’s possible mishandling of sensitive government records.
The search, first reported by CNN, was confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The person did not say if anything was found.
A special counsel for the Department of Justice is investigating how classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president and senator ended up at his home and his former office, and whether any mishandling involved criminal intent or was unintentional. Biden’s personal lawyers revealed in January that a small batch of documents with classified marks had been found weeks earlier in his former Washington office, and have since allowed the FBI to search multiple properties.
The university is Biden’s alma mater. In 2011, Biden donated her records from her 36 years of service in the United States Senate to the school. The documents arrived on June 6, 2012, according to the university, which posted photos of the numbered boxes unloaded at the university along with blue and gold balloons.
Under the terms of Biden’s gift, the records will remain sealed for up to two years after he retires from public life.
Biden’s Senate records would not be covered by the presidential records law, though the prohibitions on mishandling classified information would still apply.
The White House referred questions to the Justice Department, which declined to comment. The University of Delaware also referred questions to the Justice Department.
The university is the fourth known entity to be searched by the FBI following inspections of its former office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, where Biden’s personal lawyers initially found records bearing classified marks in a locked cabinet in November, and most recently from his Delaware homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach.
All of those searches were done voluntarily and with the consent of Biden’s legal team.
The FBI took six items containing documents with classified marks during their January search of the Wilmington home, Biden’s personal attorney said. Agents found no classified documents at the Rehoboth Beach property, but took some handwritten notes and other material related to Biden’s time as vice president for review.
The Justice Department is separately investigating former President Donald Trump’s retention of approximately 300 documents marked as classified at his Florida property, Mar-a-Lago. The FBI issued a search warrant at the house last August after months of resistance from Trump and his representatives to return the documents to the government.
The FBI also searched the Indiana home of former Vice President Mike Pence last week after his lawyers came forward to say they had found a small number of documents bearing classified marks. An aide to Pence said that an additional document with classified markings was found during that search.
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Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.