The House Judiciary Committee announced Friday that it has launched an investigation into Obama-era classified documents discovered in President Joe Biden’s Delaware home and former Washington office.
The panel, now led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding all documents and communications regarding the discovery, as well as information about Garland’s appointment of Robert Hur as special counsel overseeing the case.
The White House confirmed Thursday that classified documents dating back to Biden’s time as vice president were discovered in his Delaware garage. This came after the administration confirmed on Monday that other documents had been discovered in a locked closet at a Biden-used office in Washington.
The office documents were discovered on November 2, according to Richard Sauber, counsel to the president, in a Monday statement following a CBS News report that classified documents had been discovered there.
Garland stated on Thursday that the garage documents were discovered on December 20, and that Biden’s personal lawyer informed the DOJ earlier in the day that another document had been discovered in Biden’s Wilmington home. This admission came a day after NBC News reported that additional documents had been discovered at a second location.
Jordan and Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote to Garland on Friday, questioning whether the DOJ “actively concealed” the November discovery from the public “on the eve of the 2022 elections” — despite the fact that the DOJ typically does not announce when it opens reviews.
The letter also falsely claims that the Department of Justice’s “actions here appear to depart from how it acted in similar circumstances” because Garland approved a search warrant for government documents in former President Donald Trump’s Florida home in August of last year “despite publicly available evidence of President Trump’s voluntary cooperation.”
The letter fails to mention that the Justice Department had been investigating the Trump case behind closed doors for several months prior to the search warrant’s execution, and that Trump had refused to turn over documents with classification markings that the DOJ had subpoenaed.
In both cases, Garland did not speak publicly about the investigations until the president and former president made public statements about their interactions with the Justice Department.
Jordan and Johnson also renewed a request for information on the Trump investigation that they made last year, when the committee was under Democratic control.
“Committee Republicans wrote to you and FBI Director Christopher Wray on August 15, 2022, requesting documents and information related to the FBI’s raid on President Trump’s residence. The Department of Justice and the FBI have failed to adequately comply with this request. Our requests are still pending “According to the letter.
It requests that Garland respond to all of the committee’s requests by January 27th.
The Justice Department acknowledged receipt of the letter but declined to comment.
