FBI Searches Joe Biden’s Delaware Home

The FBI is conducting a search at the vacation home of US President Joe Biden this Wednesday (Feb. 1, 2023). The action is in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, said Bob Bauer, the president’s attorney.

The search was conducted with the cooperation of the President and his legal team. It was not known if any documents were recovered from the house.

“Today, with the full support and cooperation of the President, the DOJ [Departamento de Justiça] is conducting a planned search of his home in Rehoboth.”said Bauer. The information is from New York Times.

“In accordance with standard DOJ procedures, in the interest of safety and operational integrity, he sought to do this work without notice to the public and we agreed to cooperate.”these.

The lawyer also said he would provide “more information at the completion of today’s quest”.

UNDERSTAND THE CASE

On January 9th, Attorneys for the US president found 10 classified documents in an office located at the Penn Biden Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Washington DC

The archives were discovered just before the midterm elections on November 2, 2022, when lawyers were vacating the space and “packing files stored in a locked cabinet”.

The president’s special adviser said the documents were in a folder along with other unclassified papers. He also stated that, on the same day (Nov 2), the White House notified the Nara (National Archives and Records Administration) on the case. The department had access to the material the following day (3.Nov).

A United States law prohibits government files from being concealed, destroyed or kept at private addresses. Under the Presidential Records Act, the “memos, letters, notes, e-mails, faxes, and other written communications relating to the official duties of a president while in office”.

It is the responsibility of the US National Archives to preserve these documents. The legislation also states that all documents – whether confidential or not – must be turned over to the department when a government ends its mandate.

After the 1st discovery was made public, on January 9, the White House disclosed a note confirming the episode. The statement signed by Richard Sauber does not detail the content of the documents or the quantity.

Biden’s special adviser further stated that the current president’s personal lawyers were “cooperating” with the National Archives and the US Department of Justice “in a process to ensure that all Obama-Biden administration records are properly in possession” of the responsible department.

Biden also spoke out on the matter. On January 10, during his trip to Mexico, the president told journalists that he was “astonished” with the discovery and not knowing what the documents are about.“We are cooperating fully with the review, which I hope will be completed soon.”he stated.

The US president also spoke on January 12. He told reporters at the White House that he was “cooperating” with the Department of Justice investigation into how classified information and government records were stored.

According to the investigation of CNN, the 1st time, 10 documents dated from 2013 to 2016 were found, when Biden was vice president of Barack Obama. Among the files were US intelligence memos and information materials about Ukraine, Iran and the UK.

INVESTIGATION

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed, on January 12, Robert Hur to investigate the case. He is a former United States Attorney for the District of Maryland and will review “whether any person or entity has violated the law” no case.

Garland also appointed, on November 14, 2022, Illinois District Attorney John Lausch to review documents found at the Penn Biden Center. Lausch is also responsible for investigation of the documents found in the house of the former president Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

The analysis sought to understand how the files ended up at the addresses associated with Biden. According to the statement, Lausch concluded that a further investigation into the case was needed.

REPUBLICANS CRITICIZE

Republicans used the case to criticize Joe Biden. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer announced on January 10, which requested information from the US National Archives and the White House about the episode.

Already carta sent to the department, Comer recalls that Biden stated that the withdrawal of White House documents is a “irresponsibility”. The democrat’s statement was given when the FBI it found 15 boxes of at least confidential government documents at Donald Trump’s home in August 2022.

According to the Republican, the National Archives and Records Administration treated Biden and Trump differently.

“Nara learned of these documents days before the 2022 midterm elections and failed to alert the public that President Biden was potentially violating the law. Meanwhile, Nara instigated an unprecedented and public FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago – the home of former President Trump – to recover presidential records. NARA’s inconsistent handling of retrieving confidential records held by former President Trump and President Biden raises questions about the agency’s political bias.”wrote Eat.

On January 12th, the US House SpeakerKevin McCarthy, said that the US Congress has an obligation to investigate the files found on the Obama-Biden administration (2009-2017).

“He is an individual who has been in government for over 40 years. He is a guy who said on 60 minutes [programa da CBS] who was so concerned about President Trump’s locked and hidden documents found some time ago.”McCarthy told reporters.

“[…] I don’t think any American believes that justice shouldn’t be the same for everyone. And we find out from this administration what happened before every election. […] They try to have a different standard for their own beliefs. It doesn’t work in America”he told journalists in reference to the government of Joe Biden.