The FBI's search of President Joe Biden's home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, concluded with no classified documents found, according to his personal attorney.

News of the search came amid an ongoing probe into classified documents found at his home in Wilmington and think tank office in Washington, D.C.

What You Need To Know

  • The FBI's search of President Joe Biden's home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, concluded with no classified documents found, according to his personal attorney

  • The DOJ "took for further review some materials and handwritten notes" which apparently relate to Biden's time as vice president, Bob Bauer, personal attorney to President Biden, wrote in a statement

  • The investigation followed a 13-hour search of his Wilmington home last month, when agents located additional documents with classified markings and also took possession of some of his handwritten notes

  • The president has been voluntarily allowing the Justice Department into his residences as investigators seek to determine how classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president and a senator wound up in his home and office

  • The probe followed the Nov. 2 discovery of documents with classified markings by Biden’s lawyers as they closed up an office at the Penn Biden Center, a think tank affiliated with the Ivy League school

The search took place from 8:30 a.m. ET to noon on Wednesday, Bob Bauer, personal attorney to President Biden, wrote in a statement.

"No documents with classified markings were found," Bauer wrote. "Consistent with the process in Wilmington, the DOJ took for further review some materials and handwritten notes that appear to relate to his time as Vice President.”

The search of Biden's home was conducted "with the President’s full support and cooperation," Bauer wrote in a statement earlier Wednesday.

“Under DOJ’s standard procedures, in the interests of operational security and integrity, it sought to do this work without advance public notice, and we agreed to cooperate,” Bauer wrote. “The search today is a further step in a thorough and timely DOJ process we will continue to fully support and facilitate. We will have further information at the conclusion of today’s search.”

The investigation follows a 13-hour search of his Wilmington home last month, when agents located additional documents with classified markings and also took possession of some of his handwritten notes.

The president has been voluntarily allowing the Justice Department into his residences as investigators seek to determine how classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president and a senator wound up in his home and office. The probe followed the Nov. 2 discovery of documents with classified markings by Biden’s lawyers as they closed up an office at the Penn Biden Center, a think tank affiliated with the Ivy League school.

Documents were also found at his Wilmington home by his personal lawyers, who initiated a search after the Penn Biden center documents were discovered. The FBI also searched the Penn Biden Center in November following the initial discovery of documents there, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

“Under DOJ’s standard procedures, in the interests of operational security and integrity, it sought to do this work without advance public notice, and we agreed to cooperate,” said the statement from Biden’s lawyer, Bob Bauer. “The search today is a further step in a thorough and timely DOJ process we will continue to fully support and facilitate. We will have further information at the conclusion of today’s search.”

It was not immediately clear whether any additional classified documents were found. 

Speaking to reporters later Wednesday afternoon, Ian Sams, spokesperson for the White House Counsel’s Office, said that Biden has been "fully cooperative" with the investigation and gave "unprecedented access" to the Justice Department in its probe.

"The Justice Department is engaged in an ongoing investigation," Sams said. "An ongoing investigation, I should add, that the president has been fully cooperative in offering unprecedented access to his home in Wilmington, to his home, every single room of his home in Rehoboth as well as the one in Wilmington, and giving them access to the information they need. He's moving quickly to get them the information that they need."

"The president has been fully cooperative, and he's directed his team to be fully cooperative, and that's because he believes in the independence of the Justice Department," Sams said. "He believes in giving them the space to conduct a thorough review and to conduct that review efficiently."

Sams also said that they are "engaging in good faith" with the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, which has asked the White House for documents and information related to the probe.

 

The Biden documents probe is being handled by a special counsel, Robert Hur, the former top federal prosecutor in Baltimore. He is starting his work this week, inheriting a months-long investigation already undertaken by FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors.

The Bidens purchased the home, which overlooks a state park adjacent to the beach, in June 2017, months after he left the vice presidency.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.