No classified documents found in Biden's beach house: Lawyer

Washington, Feb 2

A lawyer for US President Joe Biden has said that no classified documents were found in the latter's beach house in in Rehoboth, Delaware, during an FBI search of the property.

Wednesday's search was the latest in a series carried out at various locations, after classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center, an office space that Biden had used when he was Vice President, in Washington D.C. last November, which was not made public at the time, the BBC reported.

More documents were discovered at another of Biden's homes in Wilmington, Delaware, in searches conducted in December 2022 and last month.

In a statement issued late Wednesday, Biden's lawyer, Bob Bauer, said the search that lasted from 8.30 a.m. to 12 noon was "planned" with the President's "full support".

"No documents with classified markings were found," he said, adding that some "materials and handwritten notes" that appear to date to Biden's time as Vice President between 2009 and 2017 were taken for "further review".

The exact number of classified records recovered till date remains unclear, although at least a dozen were found during the January searches alone.

Wednesday's search came a day after special counsel Robert Hur officially began his duties overseeing the probe into the documents, reports the BBC.

Former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence have also been embroiled in controversy over the handling of classified documents.

In Pence's case, a "small number of documents bearing classified markings" were found at his home in Carmel, Indiana, according to a letter sent to the National Archives by his lawyer.

The documents were recovered by the FBI from a safe at the property on 19 January, with two boxes more delivered to the Archives on January 23.

An August 2022 search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida uncovered dozens of boxes and about 11,000 documents, including about 100 with classified markings.

Under the US Presidential Records Act, all Presidents' and Vice-Presidents' records, including any classified documents, must be turned over to the National Archives by the end of their terms.