Joe Biden: US President’s beach house in Delaware searched by US Justice Department

The US Justice Department is conducting a search of a beach house owned by President Joe Biden in Delaware.

A statement from Bob Bauer, personal attorney for the President, read: “Today, with the President’s full support and cooperation, the DOJ is conducting a planned search of his home in Rehoboth, Delaware.

“Under DOJ’s standard procedures, in the interests of operational security and integrity, it sought to do this work without advance public notice, and we agreed to cooperate.

“The search today is a further step in a thorough and timely DOJ process we will continue to fully support and facilitate. We will have further information at the conclusion of today’s search.”

It comes after his lawyer confirmed that six further documents containing classification markings were found at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, last month.

Previously, Mr Biden’s legal team acknowledged it had found classified documents relating to his time as vice-president in the Obama administration at his home, including some in his garage.

Aides previously found another batch of classified documents at a Washington think-tank he was associated with.

The apparent mishandling of classified documents and official records from the Obama administration is under investigation by a former US attorney, Robert Hur, who was appointed as a special counsel in January by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Republicans have sought to compare the investigation of Mr Biden’s handling of classified documents to the ongoing probe into how former president Donald Trump handled classified documents after his presidency.

The White House, however, says the two cases are different because Biden’s team has cooperated with authorities in their probe and turned over documents.