Six further documents containing classification markings have been found at US President Joe Biden’s home in Delaware, his lawyer has said.
Bob Bauer said the Justice Department conducted the search at Mr Biden‘s Wilmington residence on Friday, which he said lasted approximately 13 hours.
In a statement, Mr Bauer said the Justice Department “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”.
The prosecutors also “took for further review personally handwritten notes from the vice-presidential years”, he added.
Neither Mr Biden nor first lady Jill Biden were present throughout the duration of the search at their home.
Earlier this month, 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 his residence, and at a Washington think tank he was associated with.
White House lawyer Richard Sauber said in a statement that a total of six pages of classified documents were discovered during a search of the president’s private library.
Advertisement
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 this month by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Mr Sauber reiterated that the White House would cooperate with Mr Hur’s investigation.
The discoveries have trickled out over the past few weeks, causing concern among the president’s allies that his office does not have a handle on the growing scandal.
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, previously said the two cases are different because Mr Biden’s team has cooperated with authorities in their probe and turned over documents, while Mr Trump had resisted doing so until an FBI search at his Florida home.
The DOJ historically imposes a high legal bar before bringing criminal charges in cases involving the mishandling of classified information, with a requirement that someone intended to break the law as opposed to being merely careless or negligent in doing so.
Voters across 50 states are preparing to cast their ballots after a bitterly contested US election campaign, which will see Donald Trump or Kamala Harris become president.
In the last few hours, both candidates have been giving their final pitches. “The momentum is on our side,” Ms Harris told a crowd in Philadelphia that chanted back, “We will win”.
“Tonight, then, we finish as we started: with optimism, with energy, with joy,” she said, while enjoying the support of celebrity endorsements on the day from Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Jon Bon Jovi.
In contrast, Mr Trump ended his campaign in Michigan, repeating key messages about the economy and immigration.
A handful of states will play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the election. Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin hold the keys to the White House.
To become president, the winning candidate needs 270 electoral votes or more, with each state carrying a different number of votes.
More on Us Election 2024
Related Topics:
But the focus has been on Pennsylvania which carries 19 electoral votes, the most of all the swing states.
It has been a remarkable journey for both candidates – with Mr Trump surviving two assassination attempts and Ms Harris not even originally in the running.
Advertisement
For more than a year, the 2024 presidential race seemed destined for a rematch between Joe Biden and Mr Trump – but a disastrous TV debate by Mr Biden eventually forced him to withdraw from the ticket.
The Democratic party’s decision to replace Mr Biden with his vice president transformed the race and shifted polls in Ms Harris’s favour. But only just.
Many polls are too tight to call and, with a large margin of error, most experts are refusing to predict the outcome.
Later, attention will turn to those battleground states including Georgia, which is among the first polls to close at 7pm local time (midnight UK time).
State election officials told Sky News they could have a result as early as 10pm (3am UK time).
Even so, it could be several days before the US has a definitive result.
Voters are not just selecting a president. In addition, 10 states will hold abortion-related ballots, half of which would overturn existing restrictions.
Predict who you think will win in each swing state and we’ll tell you who the president will be if you’re right.
Tonight, Sky News will have access to the most comprehensive exit poll and vote-counting results from every state, county and demographic across America through its US-partner network NBC.
You can find out more about Sky News’ coverage here.
Up to 4,000 people voting overseas in the US election are having their ballots challenged in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
They include Selma Aldi, 47, from Camden in north London who received a letter on Sunday explaining that her ballot in the US presidential election is at risk of being rejected.
“It was a shock,” she said. “It was terrifying to be targeted, to potentially lose a right that I hold as very important. It’s even a feeling that someone is questioning my identity.”
The trainee GP, who grew up in Hershey, Pennsylvania left America in 2000 but has voted via absentee ballot in every US presidential election since.
A letter from election officials in Dauphin County outlines the legal challenge. It reads: “The applicant is not registered to vote and therefore is not eligible to vote in Pennsylvania.
“Under Pennsylvania law, it is a felony to permit any person to vote who is not registered.”
More on Pennsylvania
Related Topics:
A hearing on the legal challenge is scheduled for Friday, in which Ms Aldi can respond.
Around 2.8 million US citizens living abroad are entitled to vote in the election, no matter where they are on polling day.
Advertisement
But each state has different procedures and rules on how election paperwork can be sent and received.
But Ari Savitzky, senior staff Attorney at the ACLU said “any attempt to challenge [voters] eligibility is a clear violation of their rights”.
He told Sky News: “Between 3,000 and 4,000 challenges have been filed in Pennsylvania to the absentee ballots of US citizens living abroad.
“For decades, federal law has guaranteed the right of US citizens living abroad to vote in federal elections at their last US residence.
“In addition to being legally baseless, these challenges are an abuse to voters and to election administrators.”
Deborah Hinchey from another voting rights group, All Voting is Local, said: “Election deniers across Pennsylvania have submitted thousands of mass challenges to overseas voters.
“They want to block as many ballots as possible and silence our voices… but these baseless challenges have failed before and the proper checks and balances are in place to make sure they’ll fail again,” she added.
Tonight, Sky News will have access to the most comprehensive exit poll and vote-counting results from every state, county and demographic across America through its US-partner network NBC.
You can find out more about Sky News’ coverage here.