FBI searched U. of Delaware looking for docs in Biden probe
The FBI searched the University of Delaware in recent weeks for classified documents as part of its investigation into the potential mishandling of sensitive government records by President Joe Biden.
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 would not say whether anything was found.
A Justice Department special counsel is investigating how classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president and senator came to wind up in his home and former office — and whether any mishandling involved criminal intent or was unintentional. Biden’s personal lawyers disclosed in January that a small batch of documents with classified markings had been found weeks earlier in his former Washington office, and they have since allowed FBI searches
of multiple properties.
The university is Biden’s alma mater. In 2011, Biden donated his records from his 36 years serving in the U.S. Senate to the school. The documents arrived June 6, 2012, according to the university, which released photos of the numbered boxes being unloaded at the university alongside blue and gold balloons.
Under the terms of Biden’s
gift, the records are to remain sealed until two years after he retires from public life.
Biden’s Senate records would not be covered by the presidential records act, though 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 following inspections of his former office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington and more recently his Delaware homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach.
Those searches were all done voluntarily and with the consent of Biden’s legal team.