President Biden's home searched by Justice Department, more classified material found

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Justice searched President Joe Biden's Delaware home and took possession of more items containing classified information, his lawyers said on Saturday.

The DOJ searched Biden's residence in Wilmington on Friday and found six items consisting of documents with classification markings, some from his time in the Senate in addition to his tenure as vice president during the Obama administration.

The agents took handwritten notes from his years as vice president.

The search lasted roughly 12 hours, beginning at 9:45 a.m. and ending around 10:30 p.m., according to Biden's personal attorney Bob Bauer.

"DOJ had full access to the President's home, including personally handwritten notes, files, papers, binders, memorabilia, to-do lists, schedules, and reminders going back decades," Bauer said in a statement.

Bauer said they "offered to provide prompt access to his home to allow DOJ to conduct a search of the entire premises" after some documents were found at the Wilmington residence in late December and again earlier this month.

White House counsel Richard Sauber said in a separate statement emphasizing cooperation with the Justice Department. Sauber added that neither Biden or first lady Jill Biden were at the residence when the search took place.

"The President's lawyers and White House Counsel's Office will continue to cooperate with DOJ and the Special Counsel to help ensure this process is conducted swiftly and efficiently," Sauber said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel on Jan. 12 to investigate Biden's handling of classified documents.

Biden commented on the matter himself on Thursday during a trip to California, telling reporters: "There's no there there."

"We found a handful of documents ... were filed in the wrong place, we immediately turned them over to the (National) Archives and the Justice Department," he said. "We're fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly."

"I think you're going to find, there's nothing there," he continued. "I have no regrets. I'm following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do. It's exactly what we're doing. There's no 'there' there. Thank you."