A large group of House Republicans are reportedly demanding answers from Attorney General Merrick Garland, regarding the recent revelation of Joe Biden possessing at least three separate batches of classified documents during his time as vice president to President Barack Obama — a position that does not hold declassification powers for privileged government materials.
In a document obtained by the Daily Caller, more than 40 Republicans have signed onto the detailed query.
Among the Republicans' chief concerns:
- Why did the Justice Department and White House wait two months to release the information involving the classified documents?
- Did the timing of the Nov. 8 midterms have anything to do with the delayed announcement, since the documents were reportedly discovered on Nov. 2?
- Were Biden's personal lawyers granted special clearance to peruse and handle the classified documents found in Biden's Washington D.C. office (Biden Penn Center), along with his Delaware home?
According to CNN, several of the classified documents held materials related to Ukraine, Iran, and the United Kingdom.
"Classified documents were discovered at the Penn Biden Center on November 2, 2022, only six days prior to the midterm elections, which decided the balance of power for the 118th Congress," the GOP letter reads. "This discovery occurred shortly before you appointed special counsel, Jack Smith, to criminally investigate President Trump as part of the Mar-a-Lago raid, a central issue in the midterms for both Congressional Democrats and Joe Biden.
"Did the White House request to withhold this information prior to the midterm elections?" the letter asks.
The Republicans also called on Garland, a Biden appointee, to explain the different philosophical approaches to investigating Biden and former President Donald Trump.
"The fact that President Trump is being criminally investigated for mishandling classified documents, while President Biden is not receiving the same level of scrutiny for his mishandling of classified documents, leads us to believe that the Justice Department's investigation of President Trump is nothing more than a partisan and politically motivated attack on President Trump," the letter reads.
"The American people deserve to know if prior to the midterm elections the White House covered up the fact that Joe Biden left classified documents at his think tank," Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., told the Daily Caller. "That's why I've led a coalition of my colleagues in Congress to demand that Merrick Garland investigate and provide answers immediately."
Trump offered a three-part response to the latest Biden-related revelations Sunday morning, via his Truth Social platform:
"Page 1: The new narrative from the Fake News Media, virtually the same people that pushed the BIG LIE of Russia, Russia, Russia, only to go down in flames, is the even more ridiculous story that 'what Bidden did isn’t as bad as what Trump did.' Number one, I did NOTHING wrong, have the right as President to 'declassify,' had documents in a secure place, put an extra lock on at Radical Left NARA’s request, and was dealing with NARA nicely, as per PRA & Socks, until the FBI broke into Mar-a-Lago."
Roughly an hour later, Trump wrote:
"Page 2: Mar-a-Lago is a walled fortress, built with 'unlimited' money with the idea that it would one day be the Southern White House. I guess that turned out to be true! In addition to locks & a strong structural setting, I have security & Secret Service is there full time. Compare that to a flimsy garage, with NO SECURITY, & papers strewn all over the floor. Easy access for ANYONE! Also, he had them for 6 years in many different places. I ARRIVED to MAL with 'papers' AS PRESIDENT. Joe a VP ...
"With all that has been stated on Pages 1 & 2 of Truth Social, and with all of the evidence leading to the fact that I DID NOTHING WRONG, AND JOE DID, our Nation has become an 'Investigation Nightmare,' despite the many other problems we have, which are many. It is NOW time for the USA to stop these RIDICULOUS INVESTIGATIONS, and that includes those D.C. inspired Local & State Which Hunts, and get back to the business of properly running our Country!"
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