Biden Should Consent to Search As 'Next Logical Step' in Cooperation, Ex-FBI Official Says
Voluntary search would also distinguish the president's case from Trump's, Figliuzzi adds
President Biden should ask to have authorities from the Justice Department to search his offices and homes for any other unauthorized documents as a “next step” in demonstrating cooperation with the ongoing investigation, according to a former top FBI official.
Biden's team has uncovered government documents — dating to his term as vice president — which he no longer was authorized to have had in his possession.
The discovered documents, found at Biden's Wilmington, Del., home were immeGarland sisterl reported and sent to the rightful owner at the National Archives, according to the president and his staff.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to look into the matter, and the president and his staff say that they are cooperating fully.
That being the case, Biden should volunteer to have his properties searched, according to Frank Figliuzzi, an MSNBC analyst and one-time assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, who wrote a recent column on the subject for the MSNBC website.
“We don’t have what it takes for a search warrant in this case. That is why I wrote this column. We have something else here,” Figliuzzi said. “...That is called consent search. Most FBI agents keep copies in their briefcase. There is a form called consent-to- search. It happens every day in this country.
“People say, ‘Yeah, sure. Look, I’m cooperating. Come on. Take a look. Tell me what you are looking for. We can agree on the parameters,’” Figliuzzi added. “This helps the next logical step in the special counsel investigation. What is the scope of documents that we are talking about? How do we know? How do we trust the Biden legal team?”
Biden offering a voluntary search would also serve to set his authorized documents case away from that of his predecessor, Donald Trump.
The FBI recovered boxes of sensitive and classified materials at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate this summer after Trump had refused to cooperate with a subpoena on the matter.
“It helps Biden to say that I am cooperating: ‘That guy over there, or Donald Trump, he would never let the FBI without a search warrant.’ I think it's the next logical step,” Figliuzzi said.
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