The FBI’s unprecedented search of President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, resulted from high-stakes discussions between the Justice Department and Biden attorneys over when and how it would take place, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

Biden’s team stresses that it was cooperative in the lead-up to Friday’s search and even expressed an eagerness for the search to happen as expeditiously as possible to move the investigation along – and to try to put the matter behind them.

For its part, the Justice Department had decided it would conduct the latest search – and any subsequent searches – after Biden’s team handled earlier searches themselves. Federal investigators also were prepared to seek a warrant if they did not get consent to search the Wilmington property, according to multiple sources.