Trump team turns over laptop, additional classified documents months after infamous Mar-a-Lago raid
The months-long swirl of classified documents has now involved President Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and Mike Pence
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After years of Republicans talking about Hunter Biden’s laptop containing suspicious communications and business details potentially involving President Biden, Democrats now get a chance to talk about a laptop belonging to an aide of former President Trump. The laptop was turned over to authorities amid a sweep for classified information.
While Biden’s laptop was allegedly turned over to an electronics repair shop and subsequently given to Congress and the media, Trump officials voluntarily gave the aide’s laptop to federal investigators, a source told the Associated Press on Friday.
Trump’s legal team’s handing over of the laptop and additional items containing classified markings is the latest development in a months-long swirl of classified documents that have now involved President Biden, Trump, and former Vice President Mike Pence.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden is currently under federal investigation for his handling of classified documents after they were found at Biden's residence in Delaware as well as his private office at a think tank in Washington, D.C.
President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, step off Air Force One, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y. ((AP Photo/Patrick Semansky))
On Jan. 12, White House lawyer Richard Sauber found classified documents in the garage of Biden's home in Wilmington. Classified documents were also found inside the home.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Months prior, documents with classified markings were also found at Biden's private office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C.
The FBI searched two of Biden's Delaware residences, which found classified documents dating back to the Obama administration and Biden's time in the Senate in several unsecured areas.
The New York Post reported some documents in an open box marked "important docs + photos" were also seen on a table at Biden's home in a photo found on Hunter Biden’s laptop that pre-dated his presidency.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Biden has said he has "no regrets" over how he handled the classified documents and defended his decision not to reveal their discovery, which was less than a week before the midterm elections.
"I think you're going to find there's nothing there. I have no regrets," Biden said in California. "I’m following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do. It’s exactly what we’re doing."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There’s no there, there," he added at the time.
Biden also said: "We found a handful of documents were filed in the wrong place. We immediately turned them over to the Archives and the Justice Department. We’re fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly."
On Jan. 12, Biden again commented on the discovery, claiming the documents were safely locked up in his garage next to his prized Corvette.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"My Corvette is in a locked garage — it's not like it's sitting out in the street," Biden told Fox News' Peter Doocy.
Joe Biden smiles from the front seat of his Corvette Stingray in a 2020 campaign video push to revitalize the American auto industry. (Joe Biden 2020)
The Justice Department has appointed a special counsel to investigate the documents.
Biden did not address the discovery at his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PENCE FBI SEARCH LASTED 5 HOURS, RECOVERED ONE ADDITIONAL CLASSIFIED DOC
The Justice Department has also appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump after hundreds of documents marked as classified were found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
FBI agents served a search warrant at the property in August, when they recovered roughly 100 classified documents, including records classified at the top-secret level.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during an election night party at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, November 8, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. ((Phelan M. Ebenhack for The Washington Post via Getty Images))
Former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club is seen in the aerial view in Palm Beach, Fla., Aug. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Prosecutors are investigating whether Trump acted willfully to keep the materials or whether he or other officials have acted to obstruct their probe.
Additional pages with classified markings were found and handed over to the Justice Department during another search of the property several weeks ago, which was supervised by the Trump legal team.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Trump legal team is cooperating with investigators to search for any other classified documents that may not yet have been found.
This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice on Aug. 30, 2022, and partially redacted by the source, shows a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8 FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. (Department of Justice via AP)
Former Vice President Mike Pence's Indiana home is seen from the air as a police vehicle is seen in the driveway, Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. (NewsNation)
Separately, the FBI conducted a search of Pence’s personal home in Indiana on Friday, where agents found a single document with classified markings. The search was prompted after Pence’s lawyers voluntarily searched the estate and found sensitive documents last month.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes and The Associated Press contributed to this report.