Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, is demanding that President Joe Biden make the visitors log for his Wilmington, Delaware, residence public, as well as “documents and communications about all properties and locations searched, including the identities of the Biden aides conducting the searches.”
In a Jan. 15 letter to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, Comer wrote: “President Biden’s mishandling of classified materials raises the issue of whether he has jeopardized our national security. Without a list of individuals who have visited his residence, the American people will never know who had access to these highly sensitive documents.”
The oversight committee “demands transparency into whether any individuals with foreign connections to the Biden family gained access to President Biden’s residence and the classified documents that he has mishandled for years. The committee is also concerned White House aides and President Biden’s personal attorneys searched the Wilmington residence knowing that the Department of Justice was already investigating the matter.”
The Kentucky Republican was referring to the fact that either White House aides or Biden’s personal attorneys discovered classified documents at the Penn Biden Center, the president’s joint foundation with the University of Pennsylvania, or the Wilmington residence. It’s illegal for any individual without the proper security clearance to handle classified documents.
Comer is also concerned because months elapsed between the first discovery of classified documents at the academic center on Nov. 2, 2022, and Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Jan. 12 announcement of his appointment of special counsel Robert Hur to investigate the matter. Throughout that period of time, Comer noted, White House aides and Biden’s personal attorneys have had unfettered access to the documents.
“Nonetheless, President Biden has returned to Delaware this weekend without any reported law enforcement ever conducting an independent search for classified materials,” Comer added.
Klain has until Jan. 30 to provide to the oversight committee “all documents and communications related to the searches of President Biden’s home(s) and other locations by Biden aides for classified documents — including but not limited to the dates of the searches and identity of the aides ... and [the] visitor log of President Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware home from January 20, 2021 to present,” according to the letter.
“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,” Comer told Klain.
“Given the serious national security implications, the White House must provide the Wilmington residence’s visitor log. As Chief of Staff, you are head of the Executive Office of the President and bear responsibility to be transparent with the American people on these important issues related to the White House’s handling of this matter.”
A White House spokesman couldn’t be reached for comment. A spokesman for Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on Comer’s oversight panel, also couldn’t be reached for comment.
Comer’s latest letter to Biden follows his declaration concerning the Hur appointment that “with or without a special counsel, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will investigate President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents and the Swamp’s efforts to hide this information from the American people.”
“The National Archives and Records Administration, the White House, and the Department of Justice were aware of the classified documents stashed in a closet at the Penn Biden Center before the election, and now we’ve learned classified documents kept in President Biden’s garage were found in December,” Comer wrote.
“There are many questions about why the Biden Administration kept this matter a secret from the public, who had access to the office and the residence, and what information is contained in these classified documents. Republicans will push for transparency, accountability, and answers for the American people.”
