House investigators have raised concerns about the accuracy of the timeline provided by Biden regarding classified documents.
House investigators claim that President Biden initiated the retrieval of boxes containing documents prior to his administration’s public acknowledgment of the discovery of classified documents being improperly held. This action coincided with the day the Justice Department issued a subpoena to former President Donald Trump regarding his collection of classified materials.
Lawmakers suggest that based on the timeline and actions, Mr. Biden’s team may have known about his possession of classified documents well before November 2, 2022. On that date, Mr. Biden’s lawyer claimed to have discovered the material and called upon the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to collect them.
Mr. Biden did not disclose to the public that he was in possession of classified material until January 2023, when he said he was surprised about the discovery of the documents. More classified material was discovered later on at his Wilmington, Delaware home, some of it dating back to his time as a senator.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer is seeking transcribed interviews with five top Biden aides who worked to retrieve boxes of documents from Mr. Biden’s now-defunct think tank, the Penn Biden Center in Washington D.C., beginning in the spring of 2022.
House investigators are interested in interviewing Dana Remus, who previously served as White House Counsel and assistant to the president. Remus had contacted one of Mr. Biden’s former assistants to arrange the collection of materials from the Penn Biden Center.
On May 11, 2022, Ms. Remus got in touch with Kathy Chung, who used to work with Biden, on the same day the Justice Department issued a subpoena to Donald Trump, the former President, for classified documents he had at his Palm Beach property. Ms. Remus contacted Ms. Chung privately through her personal email and phone to avoid any public records examination. She wanted to acquire material from the Penn Biden Center, and Ms. Chung assisted in coordinating the retrieval.
Former and current aides of Biden visited the Penn Biden Center twice in June 2022 and three times in October 2022 to either organize the boxes or collect certain materials.
Mr. Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer, did not disclose any of those events. According to his timeline, the series of events started on November 2, 2022, when he came across classified material unexpectedly.
Mr. Comer said the timeline provided by the president’s attorney was incomplete and misleading.
“I cannot reword”
Mr. Comer’s demand for interviews and relevant documents from the Biden administration follows the disclosure that Mr. Biden was interviewed last week by Robert K. Hur, a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the matter.
The investigation into Mr. Biden’s possession of classified documents is taking place as Mr. Trump faces dozens of criminal charges related to allegations of unsafe handling of classified materials that he removed from the White House in January, 2021 and stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Mr. Comer disputed the Biden administration’s claim that his classified documents were securely stored in a locked closet. He pointed out that the closet at the Penn Biden Center was unlocked whenever Mr. Biden’s staff visited, which allowed multiple individuals, whose security clearance levels were undisclosed, to access the boxes containing classified materials.
According to Mr. Comer, the Biden team sent certain items from the Penn Biden Center before the Archives staff had a chance to collect the confidential papers.
The Kentucky Republican said he wants to know why senior Biden officials, including Ms. Remus, then the White House’s top lawyer, were used to sort through the documents in the first place.
that the boxes stored at Penn Biden Center contained confidential and classified materials,” stated Mr. Comer. “The committee finds this fact evident.”
The White House and President Biden’s personal lawyers expressed worry about the contents of the boxes stored at Penn Biden Center several months prior to reaching out to NARA.
