FBI seizes notebooks from Biden’s Delaware residence

0

It appears as though President Joe Biden’s troubles with the Justice Department regarding possession of classified documents are wider than previously known, according to a report on January 29, 2023.

NBC News noted that in addition to collecting the documents, FBI agents also scooped up several notebooks at Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware home that he wrote during his tenure as vice president, according to sources who are familiar with the probe.

“The notebooks were seized because Biden’s notes on some of the pages relate to his official business as vice president, including details of his diplomatic engagements during the Obama administration, and may refer to classified information, this same person said, adding that the notebooks do not have classified markings on them, but some of the handwritten notes inside them could be considered as such given their sensitive content”, the report said.

“Other pages in the notebooks, while they may not contain potentially classified information, could still be considered government property under the Presidential Records Act because they pertain to official business Biden conducted as vice president, according to the person familiar with the investigation”, the report continued.

“The notebooks include a mix of handwritten notes from Biden on various topics, both personal and official, according to the person familiar with the seizure. On some pages Biden wrote down things about his family or his life unrelated to public office, said this same person. On other pages, he memorialized in writing some of his experiences or thoughts as vice president at the time, according to this same source”, NBC News noted further.

A source told the outlet that Biden kept a large number of notebooks, but it isn’t clear how many were confiscated by FBI agents.

The report added:

Biden’s possession of notebooks from his time as vice president that include notes about official business he conducted in that role raises questions about whether he appropriately followed procedures for preserving presidential records. It also raises questions about whether the notebooks are considered personal or official, and how other vice presidents and presidents who kept similar notebooks while in office have handled theirs.

Federal law allows presidents and vice presidents to write and, upon leaving office, keep diaries and notes of a “personal” nature, so long as they hadn’t shared the material with anyone in the time they held office.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both Democrats, have publicly announced that they turned over all classified documents to the National Archives and Records Administration when they left office.

“Consistent with the Presidential Records Act, all of President Obama’s classified records were submitted to the National Archives upon leaving office. NARA continues to assume physical and legal custody of President Obama’s materials to date,” Obama’s office said in an email.

“All of President Clinton’s classified materials were properly turned over to NARA in accordance with the Presidential Records Act”, a Clinton spokesperson told Fox News.

In addition to the classified documents, there are also questions surrounding a lack of transparency on why the US Secret Service apparently does not have any visitor logs from Biden’s Delaware home.

The Department of Justice is considering searching more locations for classified documents after a search of Biden’s Delaware home uncovered more classified material, CBS News reported.

“Justice Department officials are also considering the possibility of conducting other consensual searches at locations linked to Mr. Biden, said the source familiar with the investigation”, the report said.

“DOJ took possession of materials it deemed within the scope of its inquiry, including six items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding materials, some of which were from the President’s service in the Senate and some of which were from his tenure as Vice President. DOJ also took for further review personally handwritten notes from the vice-presidential years,” the president’s personal attorney said.

The search was conducted over a 12-hour period on Friday with the approval of the president’s attorneys, unlike the raid on former President Donald Trump’s home, CNN reported.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here