Police Search President Biden's Beach Residence for Confidential Documents

Steph Deschamps / February 2, 2023

The FBI did not find any classified documents in President Joe Biden's beach house, the U.S. president's lawyer reports.

Joe Biden's personal attorney, Bob Bauer, said earlier today that the Justice Department conducted a "planned" search of the Rehoboth Beach house in Delaware as part of the investigation into the classified documents.

According to Bauer, the search lasted three and a half hours. "No documents were found with markings specific to classified documents," the attorney said. The FBI took handwritten documents and other items from Biden's time as vice president for review. This is part of the Justice Department's process and also occurred during the search of Biden's home in Wilmington, Bauer said.

The search came after Biden's lawyers discovered secret documents in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center, a think tank affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, in November. The FBI then searched the think tank's Washington, D.C., offices and found secret documents from Biden's time as vice president under Barack Obama (2009-2017). During a search of his home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Jan. 20, documents were also found, also dating from Biden's time as a senator.

The revelations about Biden came after he strongly criticized his predecessor Donald Trump, whose secret documents were also discovered - but on a larger scale. And in January, it was also revealed that his vice president, Mike Pence, also had classified documents in his possession. These are documents that should have been returned to the National Archives.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the matter.