Although the interview includes extensive discussion of the contents and locations of various filing cabinets and boxes – which makes sense given the subject of the investigation – the transcript also provides surprising information about Biden’s residences throughout the years and on his obvious interest in renovation and decoration. The information we gleaned from the transcript concerns the Bidens’ lake house in Wilmington, Del. ; Biden’s time spent at the Vice President’s official residence at the Naval Observatory; and the rental house in McLean, Virginia, where he lived after his two terms as vice president. (He also owns a house in Rehoboth Beach, Del., although it receives almost no attention in these conversations.)
The U.S. Secret Service has redacted some discussions about his homes, particularly regarding their layout. This means that some subjects remain mysterious. For example, this quote about the McLean location: “The whole [redacted] is a beautiful [redacted] which cost me more than the whole house – I literally had it done by hand because I made the mistake of renting a place that had a wonderful [redacted].”
Either way, it looks impressive! Here are eight other ideas that survived in the transcript, mostly unexpurgated.
Biden has a lot of sentimental furniture
Biden acquires and keeps furniture that plays a role in his personal history. Outgoing lawmakers can purchase nonhistoric furniture in their Capitol Hill offices, “so I bought my office for the sake of posterity,” he said in the interview. The desk, complete with locking drawers, is in her formal library in her Wilmington lake house.
But it’s not the only piece of furniture he has for his work. “The first big deal I won, I went out and bought a nice desk and credenza,” he said.
Biden also kept his eyes glued to the furniture as he left the vice president’s official residence, he told prosecutors. He specifically remembers paying attention to the furniture “because I wanted to make sure they didn’t take anything from the VP’s residence that wasn’t mine, you know, which was federal property.”
[Redacted] the room is his pride and joy
Biden built the house on the edge of a man-made lake in Wilmington, and there’s a special room there that he loves. It comes up several times because it contains binders. What piece? Well, the Secret Service redacted that part. But here’s what we know.
He claimed that “this room cost a third of my entire house. Swear to God.” Hur seemed to agree, responding, “It looks like it.”
In the context of describing the space, Biden said he “chose the walnut that had been cut” and found the designer of a particular museum bookcase that he liked – although the way the The tree where the designer fits into the design of the part is not precise. is clear from the transcription. He also selected the artisans involved in its construction.
Biden pointed to “seven different individual pieces of…casting,” before admitting, “Anyway, I got a little carried away.” »
Biden considers himself a ‘frustrated architect’
On both days of the interview, October 8 and 9, Biden called himself a “frustrated architect.” The Wilmington lake house is oriented “so the sun always shines,” he said. Considering prosecutors were going through all his documents, he told them that “you’ve probably seen the significant number of house plans I’ve drawn.” He even has a drawing board for this work, although he admits that random items are piled up there as well.
He said his wife, Jill Biden, tried to persuade him not to run for Senate again by telling him, “Look, you don’t run, I’ll pay for my architecture degree.”
Although he did not accept the offer, he said he continued to tinker with the house. “What I’m constantly doing, what’s driving everyone crazy with me, is constantly making changes at home,” he said. For example, he would tear down a wall or reorient it. He went on to say that the house is “my baby, my hostage, my, my interest.”
He also discussed the virtues of Victorian homes in a conversation about the Naval Observatory, a building of that style, although the Secret Service redacted most of those comments.
His fascination with architecture is not entirely new information. A former aide told the Wall Street Journal in 2020 that Biden used to read Architectural Digest during his Amtrak rides to and from DC.
During the interview, he did not hold back his thoughts on the rooms related to the interrogation. When Marc Krickbaum, deputy special counsel, began a series of questions about particular documents, Biden interrupted him by asking: “That’s a pretty neat piece, isn’t it?”
He wanted his Zoom background to look good
When he moved out of his rental in McLean in 2019, Biden wanted to make sure the best furniture came to his Delaware home. “I thought it was important to arrange the lake house into its final form,” he said, because there was a place in the house where he could conduct television interviews and other virtual appearances. “I needed some of this furniture in Delaware…because we were campaigning out of our basement.”
The Secret Service redacted the specific room where much of the campaign operation took place. But there are other nuggets of information on this subject. There was “thick clear plastic” that could come down to protect against rain and then be brought back up when the weather was nice, as well as lights, cameras and other equipment. Was it some sort of indoor-outdoor room? It looks like it, but we can’t say for sure.
He has too many “stuff”
The relevant part: Biden has more stuff than he knows what to do with. “My generic problem was that there was a lot of stuff,” he said. “No, I really mean it. For example, I don’t want all that in my house. The least relevant part: His clutter included “statues” and he left it to the transition staff at the end of his vice presidency to determine what he should keep.
He decided to keep a wealth of photos, including those depicting the time when, in his words, he “unfortunately embarrassed a leader of Mongolia.” In fact, he said he has so many photos, including on the walls and in piles, that “I don’t know what to do with them.”
He also appears to keep years of files and paperwork. When prosecutors showed him a photo, he told them it appeared to contain personal documents. “Like, I’ve brought in so many different contractors, you know, that are going to fix this, put the roof on that, that pump station that’s outside,” he said .
Later, when asked to explain a different binder, he said, “I don’t think there’s any rhyme or reason to it.” I mean, they’re everywhere. So I guess it was just things that I decided not to throw away or like I said, it was just miscellaneous stuff that was lying around and got put in a drawer.
Biden had to empty his garage to make room for the Corvette
While garages are often the key place to keep this “stuff” in many households, the Bidens’ garage in Wilmington has become too full. He stored his paint, tools and golf clubs on one side, and Jill Biden’s dinnerware, vases and crystal pitchers on the other, along with a workbench. Eventually, to fit his Corvette inside, he found storage space to fit his lawn mower and a bunch of gardening tools, as well as the Corvette’s hardtop, he told prosecutors .
He also had to rearrange a bunch of boxes to fit. “I remember moving boxes, literally physically moving them, with help, from one side to the other so I could put the Corvette in this garage on the left,” he said. declared.
He invested time and money in his rental home in McLean, Virginia.
Once he was no longer vice president, Biden moved into a rental house in McLean, Virginia. Hur asked him about his feelings about the space: “At one end of the spectrum, you might say, ‘I’m going to furnish this place very, very minimally.’ I’m not going to contribute much because I’m not going to stay there very long. On the other end of the line, you might say, “I want to bring just about everything I own because this will be my primary residence.” » While Biden responded that he was somewhat in the middle of that spectrum, he also said: Again, he pays special attention to furniture.
Although the rental came with some furniture, he purchased additional pieces because “I decided it had to be beautiful, because I was bringing people there who were heads of state, advisors to national security, famous people that I’m trying to highlight.” get involved in the Senate. He also hung art on the walls “to make it look like a house.” Today, much of that furniture is stored at the White House, he said, including in the solarium.
He talked about the rental’s basement, which was “more of a family room, a meeting room, a TV room, you know, a staff room.” …I’m a frustrated architect and I wanted to design it to look nice.
He even considered installing a swimming pool in the rental house
At some point he may have become a little overzealous about the house. “I was even talking about whether I would spend money if they let me and put in a pool, that sort of thing. Jill said, ‘What are you doing, what are you talking about, stop,'” he recalled. “…But it was in an effort to make the place nice and livable and to make it feel like home.”
