Biden Documents Probe Expands Beyond Obama WH

The federal probe examining President Joe Biden's potential mishandling of classified documents while serving as vice president has expanded into a wider investigation that goes beyond the Obama White House and dates back to his time in the U.S. Senate, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

Special counsel Robert Hur's office has been interviewing scores of witnesses, ranging from executive assistants and senior advisers to White House attorneys, for nearly nine months, with several sources estimating that as many as 100 witnesses have already been interviewed. Some have reportedly been asked to return for follow-up sessions.

Although investigators found instances of carelessness during Biden's vice presidency, they felt, based on witness interviews, that the improper removal of classified documents when he left office in 2017 was more than likely a mistake than a criminal act, sources told ABC.

Hur has previously pledged to conduct a "fair, impartial, and dispassionate" investigation governed by facts. No final determinations have been made, and the investigation is reportedly ongoing.

Unlike special counsel Jack Smith and the noise surrounding his investigations into former President Donald Trump, Hur has operated quietly since his appointment in January, largely avoiding media scrutiny, despite his high-stakes probe into a sitting president.

Sources told ABC that Hur's team has gathered documents from the early days of the Obama administration and is seeking to understand how the vice president was updated on highly sensitive matters.

Witnesses told the outlet that investigators have asked for context about email exchanges from as far back as 2010 and said they have been asked about the use of cabinets and safes. According to published reports, authorities went back to Biden's time in the Senate in their search for documents.

Investigators have been asking questions about the internal White House procedures for handling classified materials, sources said, seemingly in an effort to understand how Biden processed classified documents.

Multiple sources told ABC that Biden's note taking and document retention tendencies were of particular interest to investigators, including the physical locations for where he stored notes, notecards, briefing books, and documents. They also wanted to know if Biden ever handled classified materials on a personal iPad and cell phone.

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