The FBI on Tuesday declined to comment on reports claiming that agents searched President Joe Biden’s Washington office in November of last year.
When reached for comment, the FBI did not comment on the reports and instead, directed The Epoch Times to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of the Special Counsel.
Those reports also indicated that Biden’s team was fully aware of the search and consented to the FBI search. There was no search warrant involved, the reports said, again citing anonymous sources.
Both the DOJ and FBI declined to comment on those reports in statements to other news outlets on Tuesday. The White House Counsel’s Office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday, while the Biden administration has not publicly commented on the reports.
The DOJ has not responded to an Epoch Times request for comment.
The FBI search of the Penn Biden Center wasn’t previously disclosed by White House officials or Biden’s personal lawyers.
The White House and the president’s personal lawyers, who have faced criticism from Republicans and even some Democrats for their delayed and incomplete disclosure of information about the classified document discoveries, did not directly reveal the search or comment on the matter Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
“We have been transparent in the last couple of days, remember there is an ongoing process and we have spoken when it is appropriate,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier this month after it was confirmed that classified documents had been found at the Penn Biden Center.
In a Jan. 21 statement acknowledging that FBI agents had searched and taken custody of classified records at the president’s Wilmington home the day before, Bob Bauer, the president’s personal attorney, said the search “was consistent with the process described in the Statement we released on January 14 and followed after the personal attorney’s discovery of the documents found at the Penn Biden Center.”
The revelations that Biden had classified materials after leaving office prompted Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to oversee the probe into his handling of the documents.
“The extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter,” Garland said in announcing the move. “I strongly believe that the normal processes of this department can handle all investigations with integrity. But under the regulations, the extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter,” he added.
Last week, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers called on the DOJ and White House to be more transparent regarding investigations into Biden’s and former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents.
“We don’t want to get into a question of threats at this point. But we want to say this though: We have a job to do, it is our job to make sure that the security of our country is protected and that the intelligence that our country depends upon is not compromised,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) told reporters last week. “The notion that we have to wait until a special prosecutor blesses the intelligence committee’s oversight will not stand.”
Around the same time, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told reporters that “there will be pain as a consequence” of the Biden administration’s stonewalling. Cotton asserted he will “take every step I can” to block nominees or withhold funding for federal programs.
Former Vice President Mike Pence this month also confirmed that classified documents were found at his residence in Indiana.
Under the Presidential Records Act, all documents from the president and vice-president must be handed to the U.S. National Archives after the administration’s conclusion.
