The access road to President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del., is seen from the media van Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. (Credit: Carolyn Kaster/AP)
“The Justice Department reportedly considered accompanying President Joe Biden’s lawyers as they searched his residences but declined to do so.
Officials believed joining in the search would complicate the investigation’s later stages. They also cited trust in the Biden team as a reason to avoid tagging along, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The Justice Department’s treatment of Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents differs greatly from their treatment of allegedly mishandled classified documents by former President Donald Trump.
Trump’s team had been in contact with the National Archives, but talks between them deteriorated and lead to the FBI raiding the former president’s residence at Mar-a-Lago. They found classified documents in the search. Officials believed Trump’s team had not been honest when they claimed they had turned over all documents that were property of the federal government.
Biden’s lawyer originally disclosed the finding of classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president at the Penn Biden Center to the National Archives in November 2022. There were several follow-up communications about additional classified documents found at his Wilmington, Delaware, residence.
In both Trump’s and Biden’s cases, Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed special counsels to investigate the alleged mishandling of the classified documents. (Read more: Washington Examiner, 1/17/2023) (Archive)