Rep. Cline to Newsmax: 'Significant Evidence of a Crime' If Biden Hiding Classified Docs

Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., told Newsmax on Wednesday that there is "significant evidence of a crime" if President Joe Biden is "somehow taking classified documents, concealing them as personal items, and hiding them."

"Joe Biden as vice president wasn't even allowed to declassify those types of documents," Cline said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show." "He wasn't allowed to possess them in private papers or transfer them to a university. So if Joe Biden is somehow taking classified documents, concealing them as personal items, and hiding them away, you've got significant evidence of a crime that needs to be investigated."

Citing an unnamed source, NBC News reported on Wednesday that Biden aides discovered at least one additional batch of classified documents in a separate location from the Washington, D.C., office he used after serving as vice president.

Biden aides were searching for additional classified materials that might be in other locations after a set of classified documents was found in November at a Washington think tank.

Cline spoke to the appearance of a double standard when it comes to who is in possession of classified materials.

"We heard all kinds of allegations against the former president for committing some violations of national security but then, when it appears that Joe Biden has done it, oh it's everybody that does it," the Virginia Republican said. "It's all kinds of elected officials and it happens all the time. So you're hearing one thing, seeing another. That's the duplicity that comes with the Democrat Party and it's not going to stop. We just have to continue to call them out on it and hold them accountable for their violations."

When asked about the theory that the overnight Federal Aviation Administration system outage that grounded more than 10,000 flights across the United States was manufactured as a distraction from Biden's classified documents scandal, the Old Dominion congressman said, "I don't think anything happens by accident when it's coming out of this Biden administration."

"You always need to look behind the facts of what's going on," he said. "But I do know that both this incident this morning and the chaos over the Christmas holiday with Southwest happened on the secretary-ship of Pete Buttigieg, and I think that we have some questions for him on the Hill so we look forward to having him up here to testify."

• GOP Kicks Off Oversight of Biden Docs Case
• Buttigieg Slammed After FAA Outage Grounds All Flights