In early January the general public was informed that classified documents were found in the private residence of President Joseph Biden in Wilmington, Del. However, the situation – bynamed the “Biden Case” – has been unfolding far longer than U.S citizens have been led to believe. 

Classified papers were found on Nov. 2 at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement and by Nov. 4 officials had handed the situation over to the Justice Department. Through Nov. a preliminary investigation took place led by attorney John R. Laush Jr. 

In Dec. Biden’s lawyers informed Laush that they had found additional classified documents in his garage in his Wilmington home – but made it clear that they had disclosed that information to the Justice Department upon finding the documents. The search continued through Dec. and by Jan. Laush advised that a special counsel should be involved – as conflict of interest could inhibit government lawyers from rightly conducting this investigation 

On Jan. 12, the White House conceded to press about the documents being found and released an official statement on the issue two days later. It has not gone unnoticed that the White House chose to acknowledge the Biden Case after the midterm elections, which took place in early Nov. The results were very favorable to the sitting president, but some speculate that that could have been different had the information on the mishandled documents been released sooner. 

As the investigation continued, a thorough 13 hour search of Biden’s Wilmington residence on Jan. 20 resulted in the discovery of six additional classified documents – separate from the ones found at the Penn Biden Center and the others previously found. The documents were also from his previous terms in the senate and as vice president. 

Biden has been cooperative in all stages of the investigation. The FBI recently searched his second home in Rehoboth Beach with his knowing consent; The search resulted in no further classified documents being found. However, investigators did confiscate other papers from Biden’s terms as vice president. 

Parallels have been drawn between former President Donald Trump’s mishandling of classified documents and the Biden Case – yet, it’s important to note key differences in the situations. While Biden has continued to work with investigators on the issue, when allegations were made against Trump he repudiated wrongdoing. Furthermore, it’s reported that Trump mishandled around 300 classified documents and to-date it’s reported that there has been a little over 12 mishandled documents regarding the Biden Case. This does not make the situation any less a crime, however. 

As the investigation continues, it is unclear how this will affect the upcoming 2024 presidential election. As many Dulaney students – especially seniors – will be eligible to vote for the next election, this information could influence future student voters. Only time will tell how the Biden Case will play out and resolve itself. 

*Information taken from

ERIC TUCKER, COLLEEN LONG and ZEKE MILLER. “FBI Searches Biden’s Vacation Home; No Classified Documents.” AP NEWS, 1 Feb. 2023, apnews.com/article/biden-classified-documents-home-search-383d3eababa179ad5d7b0c2805c1. Accessed 8 Feb. 2023.

‌Sam Cabral & Bernd Debusmann Jr. & Anthony Zurcher. “What You Need to Know about the US Classified Documents Saga.” BBC News, 25 Jan. 2023, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64404496. Accessed 8 Feb. 2023.

‌Shear, Michael D., and Katie Rogers. “Investigators Seize More Classified Documents from Biden’s Home.” The New York Times, 22 Jan. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/01/21/us/politics/biden-documents.html.

‌Shpigel, Ben. “Timeline of the Biden Documents Case: What We Know so Far.” The New York Times, 12 Jan. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/us/politics/biden-documents-timeline.html.

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