When will this scavenger hunt end?
That’s what Americans across this country are asking themselves as more classified material is found improperly stored by President Biden.
If the Biden administration had its way, you wouldn’t even know about it.
Let’s look at the timeline, what we know and why this continues to be a serious national-security issue:
The Biden administration remained silent.
- On Nov. 4, the archives contacted the Department of Justice about the classified documents.
The classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center. AFP via Getty Images
The Biden administration remained silent.
- On Nov. 9, the FBI began to assess whether classified material has been mishandled in violation of federal law. On Nov. 14, Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned John Lausch, the US attorney in Chicago, to investigate.
The Biden administration remained silent.
- On Dec. 20, Biden lawyers disclosed that classified documents from the Obama-Biden administration are in the garage at the president’s Wilmington, Del., home. The FBI traveled to the residence.
The Biden administration remained silent.
- On Jan. 9, media reports finally shined a light on Biden’s mishandling of classified documents. Nearly three months after Biden’s personal attorneys first found classified documents and a consequential midterm election, the public finally learned of Biden’s mishandling of classified material — not from the White House but from the media.
One thing is abundantly clear: The Biden administration never intended to inform the American people.
More classified documents were found at Joe Biden’s Wilmington home. Joe Biden
No transparency
At one time, Biden promised to have the most transparent administration in history. I could make the argument he has the least transparent administration in history.
When it mattered most, the White House, National Archives and Justice Department failed to promptly inform Congress and the American people.
The latest on President Biden’s classified docs scandal
As chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, I have a responsibility to investigate this mishandling of highly sensitive information and what appears to be a two-tier system of justice.
For months, the National Archives failed to disclose to the American public that Biden stored highly classified documents in a closet at his personal office.
Instead of being transparent, the archives did not alert the public that Biden was potentially violating the law.
In stark contrast, the archives instigated a public and unprecedented FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago — former President Donald Trump’s home — to retrieve presidential records.
It’s been questioned whether Hunter Biden’s business parter had access to the documents. AP
This inconsistent treatment of recovering classified records held by Trump and Biden raises serious questions of political bias at the agency. I sought answers from the National Archives.
On Jan. 31, the National Archives notified me in a transcribed interview that it prepared a press statement regarding the Penn-Biden Center classified documents.
However, it confirmed someone outside the National Archives suppressed the statement from going public. Only two have that authority: the White House and Department of Justice.
Why would the Biden administration keep the National Archives from being transparent with the public?
Who had access?
I am also concerned about who had access to Biden’s unsecured documents given the Biden family’s financial connections to foreign actors and influence-peddling schemes.
Oversight Republicans have been following the Biden family and associates’ money trail — consisting of international transactions worth millions of dollars — and seeking to provide answers to the American people. Everyone deserves to know whether the president’s connections to his family’s shady business deals occurred at the expense of American interests.
Did foreign business partners, through Hunter Biden, have access to these improperly stored documents?
The American people deserve to know. Instead, President Biden dismissively suggests it’s “stuff from 1974” without providing answers.
This scavenger hunt for Biden’s classified documents is likely far from over. In the meantime, Oversight Republicans will continue pressing for answers to inform legislative solutions to prevent this abuse of power.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
Source link: https://nypost.com/2023/02/09/the-silence-on-the-classified-documents-scandal-is-deafening-joe-biden/