US Justice Department finds additional classified documents in search of Biden's home

WASHINGTON: The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) searched President Joe Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, and found six more classified documents, his personal attorney announced late Saturday.

"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," Anadolu Agency quoted Bob Bauer as saying about the search that lasted nearly 13 hours on Friday.

The statement noted handwritten notes from Biden's vice-presidential years were also taken for "further review."

The White House Counsel's Office said neither the president nor the first lady were present during the search.

The six documents were in addition to classified government records found at Biden's private office and home in recent weeks.

The first batch of documents was discovered Nov 2 at his former office at the Penn Biden Centre in Washington, D.C. from the Obama-Biden administration, six days before the midterm elections.

It was followed by the discovery of additional classified documents Dec 20 in Biden's garage and later at his home in Delaware.

The documents reportedly included US intelligence memos and briefing materials dated between 2013 and 2016 related to Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland last week announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate classified documents found at addresses linked to Biden.

The White House has come under increasing pressure from congressional Republicans and the media for not disclosing that the documents were found before the elections.

Republicans have also drawn parallels between Biden and the controversy concerning former President Donald Trump holding onto classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort residence.

Democrats have countered that Trump held hundreds of documents, not the handful found at Biden's addresses, and Biden immediately turned over the documents to the government, while Trump refused to hand them over.

-- BERNAMA