Republicans Criticize Biden’s Handling of Classified Documents

The new Republican head of a key House committee on Sunday attacked Democratic President Joe Biden and his aides for their handling of classified documents discovered in a Washington office Biden used after his vice-presidency ended in 2017 and in his house in the city of Wilmington, Delaware.

Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, requested in a letter to Ron Klain, Biden’s White House chief of staff, information about the searches of the documents at Biden’s Downtown office. Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington and at Biden’s home, including lists of those who have visited the residence since he became president nearly two years ago.

Comer’s request came a day after the White House said Biden’s aides had found an additional five pages of classified material at his home, on top of an earlier disclosure that other documents had been found in his home’s garage. and in the Washington office that Biden used occasionally. him before running for president in 2020.

In all, about 20 classified documents have been found in Biden’s office or home, including some that were first discovered in early November, just days before crucial national midterm elections, but not known by the White House. acknowledged until last week. All have been turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration as required by US law when presidents and vice presidents leave office.

Possible impact on the elections

In the run-up to the election, where Democrats won more races than anticipated, ahead of the vote, Biden attacked former President Donald Trump as “totally irresponsible” for bringing more than 300 classified documents to his seaside retreat in March. a-Lake in Florida. when he left office. Trump eventually returned some of the documents as Files requested, while dozens of others were not recovered until FBI agents discovered them in a court-ordered search in Mar-a-Lago last August.

In an interview with the chain Comer said he was not accusing Biden of wrongdoing, but added: “I am going to accuse the Biden administration of not being transparent” by not confirming that the classified documents were discovered until later. CBSNews first reported it.

“The hypocrisy here is great,” Comer said of Biden attacking Trump for his cache of documents and then not confirming his until weeks after the election, the disclosure of which could have influenced the vote.

Comer did not request visitor records at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago retreat, where he lives in the winter months.

“No one has been investigated more than President Trump,” Comer told “but no one investigated President Biden.”

US Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed two special advisers, one to investigate Trump’s classified documents and the other to investigate Biden’s collection of classified material.

The White House, which is seeking to minimize the political fallout from the release of classified material found at Biden’s locations, has signaled that it is cooperating fully with the investigation of his documents, while Trump has criticized the investigation of the material found at Mar-a – Lake.

In his letter to Klain, Comer said, “It is concerning that classified documents have been improperly stored at President Biden’s home for at least six years, raising questions about who may have reviewed or had access to the classified information.”

Biden has said he was surprised to learn that classified material was discovered in places linked to him.

When Asked Comer if he cared more about the mishandling of classified documents when engaging with Democrats, he replied: “Absolutely not. Look, we still don’t know what kind of documents President Trump had.”

“My concern,” he said, “is how there is such a discrepancy in the way former President Trump was treated in raiding Mar-a-Lago, in obtaining the security cameras, in taking pictures of documents on the ground. … That is not a fair deal, and we are very concerned and there is a lack of trust here in the Department of Justice by House Republicans. That’s the outrage.”

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