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FBI searched Penn Biden Center for classified docs in mid-November: report

By Caitlin Doornbos and Steven Nelson

Published Jan. 31, 2023
Updated Jan. 31, 2023, 3:22 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON – FBI agents searched President Biden’s former DC think tank office in mid-November after his attorneys found classified records improperly stored there days before the midterm elections, according to a new report.

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The FBI search of the Penn Biden Center, first reported Tuesday by CBS, was not previously disclosed by the White House, the Justice Department or Biden’s personal attorneys.

Journalists, Republicans and even some Democrats have blasted Biden and his aides for concealing key details about the case — including hiding the initial politically explosive discovery from the public for more than two months before giving a series of incomplete, incorrect or evasive statements.

It’s unclear whether the FBI found any additional classified material in their mid-November office search that followed the reported Nov. 2 discovery by Biden’s lawyers of 10 classified documents – some related to the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Iran – at the now-president’s abandoned office near the US Capitol.

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The search of the Penn Biden Center has not previously been disclosed by the White House, Justice Department, or the president’s personal attorneys.
AP
President Biden’s legal team uncovered about 10 classified documents on Nov. 2, 2022.
AP

Ian Sams, the White House spokesman in charge of inquiries about the controversy, did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment. Spokespeople for the FBI and Justice Department declined to comment.

Biden first acknowledged the discovery of classified documents at the Penn Biden Center while speaking at a Jan. 10 press conference in Mexico City — after CBS broke the story one day prior. But in those remarks, he didn’t admit that a second cache of classified documents was reported by his team on Dec. 20 as having been found inside his Wilmington garage.

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Several subsequent searches of Biden’s Wilmington home have turned up additional classified documents dating to his vice presidency and Senate years. The FBI also searched the home on Jan. 20 — the second anniversary of Biden taking office as president.

The material was from President Biden’s time as vice president during the Obama administration. Twitter/@PennBiden

Biden has bristled at questions about the controversy, telling a reporter Jan. 19 that he had “no regrets” about concealing the issue until after the midterm elections, in which former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents was a major issue.

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“I think you’re going to find there’s nothing there. I have no regrets,” Biden snapped. “I’m following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do. It’s exactly what we’re doing. There is no there there.”

Biden had acknowledged on Jan. 12 that some classified records were found next to his classic Corvette in Wilmington, but defended his handling of those documents.

“My Corvette is in a locked garage, OK? So it’s not like they’re sitting out on the street,” Biden said.

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Although the White House said at the time that searches for records were complete, additional documents were found by Biden’s lawyers and then by the FBI.

On Jan. 12, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed former federal prosecutor Robert Hur as a special counsel to investigate whether Biden or anyone in his orbit unlawfully mishandled sensitive government information.

Little is known about the contents of the documents – apart from the fact that some of them were marked “top secret.”

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Meanwhile, Republicans are clamoring for additional searches of Biden’s Rehoboth Beach vacation house and his Senate papers held at the University of Delaware.

Lawmakers from both parties have also demanded briefings about potential national security threats posed by the discovery of the classified documents, as well as those found during an Aug. 8 raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump’s handling of documents is under investigation by a different special counsel, Jack Smith.

What do you think? Post a comment.

First son Hunter Biden, who is under federal investigation for possible tax fraud, money laundering and illegal foreign lobbying, frequently visited the Wilmington document repository, according to records from his former laptop, and even listed the home as his own residence on a 2018 background check form.

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