The FBI conducted two searches at the University of Delaware recently as part of its ongoing probe into President Joe Biden’s potential mishandling of classified documents.
The visits occurred in recent weeks with the cooperation of the president’s legal team, and were previously undisclosed. CNN first reported on the searches on Wednesday.
Investigators recovered materials from the university, but they did not appear to have classified markings, a source told CNN. The FBI is reviewing the materials.
Biden graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965 with joint degrees in history and political science. Upon becoming vice president, Biden tapped his alma mater to host a vast collection of documents spanning his 36-year career in the Senate.
According to the university’s website, the collection consists of nearly 2,000 boxes of records that have not yet been accessible to the public since they were first donated in 2011. Conditions attached to Biden’s gift stipulate that the records are to be sealed from the public until two years after the president’s retirement from public life.
News that the library was searched by the FBI marks the fourth known location the agency has explored as part of its investigation into Biden’s handling of sensitive government records.
Previously, the FBI had conducted inquiries of Biden’s former office at the Penn Biden Center think tank in Washington D.C., as well as at his Delaware residences in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach. An initial batch of classified documents was discovered at the think tank in early November, and at least a dozen more were discovered in the president’s Wilmington home.
In January, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed special counsel Robert Hur to oversee the investigation. “The extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter,” Attorney General Garland said during the announcement appointing of Hur.
“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,” Garland added.
Prior to Hur’s appointment, Garland appointed Jack Smith in November as special counsel to oversee the investigation into similar allegations against Donald Trump, as well as into the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Last week, the FBI searched former vice president Mike Pence’s home in Carmel, Ind., following the discovery of some classified documents there in mid-January. One additional classified document was discovered during the most recent search of Pence’s home.