Hitting back hard against the Biden Administration over what he labeled as its “alarming” secrecy and foot-dragging regarding the situation of the classified documents from Biden’s time as Vice President was Rep. James Comer, who promised this week to launch a Congressional probe into those transactions.
Rep. Comer did so in a statement released by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on January 14th, saying:
“President Biden’s three strikes against transparency will be met with swift congressional oversight. The White House, the National Archives, and the Justice Department failed to promptly inform Congress and the American people about mishandled classified documents from Joe Biden’s time as vice president. We first learned about the Penn Biden Center classified documents months after they were found in an unsecure closet. Then it took the White House weeks to inform the public about the documents found in President Biden’s Wilmington garage. And now days later, we are learning that there are more documents at the Wilmington residence. Are there more classified documents to be found?
“The Biden White House’s secrecy in this matter is alarming. Equally alarming is the fact that Biden aides were combing through documents knowing there would be a Special Counsel appointed. Many questions need to be answered but one thing is certain: oversight is coming.”
That’s not all Rep. Comer has had to say about the Biden scandal. He also wrote some letters to both the National Archives and Records Administration and the Biden White House Counsel, both of which were also highlighted by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
In his letter to NARA, for example, Rep. Comer slammed the inconsistent treatment of Biden and Trump and the role that inconsistent treatment played in the midterm elections, saying:
“For months, NARA failed to disclose to Committee Republicans or the American public that President Biden—after serving as Vice President—stored highly classified documents in a closet at his personal office. NARA learned about these documents days before the 2022 midterm elections and did not alert the public that President Biden was potentially violating the law. Meanwhile, NARA instigated a public and unprecedented FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago—former President Trump’s home—to retrieve presidential records. NARA’s inconsistent treatment of recovering classified records held by former President Trump and President Biden raises questions about political bias at the agency,”
Then, in his letter to the Biden White House Counsel, Rep. Comer laid out some of the concerns he and his colleagues have with the documents, saying:
“The President has previously called the mishandling of presidential records ‘totally irresponsible.’ Recent reports reveal that classified documents in the custody of then-Vice President Biden were discovered in a closet at a Washington, D.C. office. The Committee requests documents and information related to the White House’s handling of this matter … The Committee is concerned that President Biden has compromised sources and methods with his own mishandling of classified documents. Under the Biden Administration, the Department of Justice and NARA have made compliance with the Presidential Records Act a top priority. President Biden has claimed he was not going to ‘get myself in the middle of whether or not the Justice Department should move or not move on certain actions they could take.’ The Committee expects President Biden will receive equal treatment under the law given that he maintained classified documents in his unsecured office for several years with access to an unknown number of people.”
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