James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, promised a congressional investigation into alleged negligence in Joe Biden's handling of classified documents from his time as vice president in the Barack Obama administration.
The Republican representative from Kentucky sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain requesting the visitor logs for President Joe Biden's residence in Wilmington, Del., where multiple classified documents were found. Some of them were hidden in a garage Biden's private Corvette.
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I’m calling on @POTUS Chief of Staff Ron Klain to release the visitor log for President Biden’s Wilmington residence & provide info about all properties & locations searched, including the identities of the Biden aides conducting the searches.👇🏼https://t.co/4M3O2oWUNB
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) January 15, 2023
The chairman of the House Oversight Committee cited "serious national security implications." Comer considers it "alarming" that several lawyers and aides of the president have compiled these documents knowing that there would be a special prosecutor appointed to investigate this case.
It is troubling that classified documents have been improperly stored at the home of President Biden for at least six years, raising questions about who may have reviewed or had access to classified information. Additionally, President Biden’s personal attorneys, who do not possess security clearances, and White House staff continue to access and search the President’s residence in Wilmington, Delaware for classified documents.
“The Biden White House’s secrecy is alarming"
The letter sent to Klain explains the actions of Biden's team after the existence of these documents became known. President Biden's personal attorneys first discovered classified documents at the Penn Biden Center on Nov. 2, 2022. The National Archives informed the Department of Justice of the president's improper storage of documents on Nov. 4. On Nov. 14, Attorney General Merrick Garland instructed U.S. Attorney John Lausch to consider whether a special counsel should be appointed. Despite the Justice Department initiating its review of the matter, reports indicate that White House staff and President Biden's lawyers continued to search his Wilmington, Del. property. On Dec. 20, 2022, more than a month after Lausch began his review, President Biden's personal attorneys notified Lausch that additional classified documents had been found at the president's Wilmington residence.
In view of this sequence of events, James Comer considers that “the Biden White House’s secrecy in this matter is alarming." The Republican representative claims that 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?
