Republicans in Congress are skeptical that President Joe Biden or his team will handle classified documents appropriately during the presidential transition and have pledged to carry out oversight as needed, the Washington Examiner reported Wednesday.
"The White House has not been truthful about the timeline surrounding the discovery of classified documents that President Biden stored at the Penn Biden Center," House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said.
The Kentucky Republican added: "President Biden has not been honest with the American people about retaining classified documents from his time as a senator and as vice president, nor has he instilled confidence that he will refrain from taking classified documents in the future."
Comer added that "we fully expect those responsible for managing presidential records to closely monitor the presidential transition and ensure that President Biden complies with the law."
The process has more than two months to play out before Biden leaves office Jan. 20.
Biden announced in February the formation of the Presidential Records Transition Task Force to address what his administration calls a "long-standing problem" of mishandling, but the effort has been rarely talked about since then.
Republican congressmen insist they will keep a close eye on Biden and his administration during his remaining time in office.
"Any individual in the federal ranks who destroys records to conceal information from the newly elected administration should face consequences," said Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas. "Expectations for a peaceful transfer of power should encompass the entire administration, and not just the Office of the President."
Bradley Moss, a national security attorney who has been critical of Donald Trump's post-presidency storage of documents at Mar-a-Lago, said the lack of consequences Trump has faced leaves little incentive for Biden cooperate.
Biden could "straight up walk out of the White House with whatever classified documents he wants, give everyone the middle finger while chanting 'Presidential Records Act,' and claim immunity," Moss told the Washington Examiner. "Of course, no one expects President Biden to do anything like that. The expectation is that his team is being particularly careful to avoid any inadvertent removal of classified records over the next months."
But Mike Howell, director of the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, said more may need to be done to ensure Biden's outgoing transition is handled properly and rejects the idea that Trump has gotten off easy.
"President Biden tried to put Trump in jail for the rest of his life," Howell said. "He coordinated with lawfare exercises across the country. He wanted Trump to die in jail. He called him a threat to democracy. I don't think that because Biden shows up for customary tea party that he is forgiven."