According to a document revealed by the Daily Caller, over 40 Republicans are sending a letter demanding answers from Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The lawmakers want to know why the fact that classified documents were found at an unsecure location controlled by President Joe Biden was suppressed before November’s midterm elections. Biden’s attorneys reportedly discovered the materials while moving files at a think tank.
These were not just any materials. They allegedly included top-secret papers relating to Ukraine, Iran, and the United Kingdom. Biden has said he was unaware that the documents were found until he was informed later by the White House counsel’s office.
The contrast between their discovery and government actions against former President Donald Trump over his possession of classified materials is striking.
Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) wrote in the letter that the timing is critical. He noted that “classified documents were discovered at the Penn Biden Center on November 2, 2022, only six days prior to the midterm elections.”
We all know why it was kept secret—right before the midterms—that Joe Biden kept classified documents at his Chinese-funded "think tank."
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) January 10, 2023
They were also discovered “shortly before you (Garland) appointed special counsel Jack Smith to criminally investigate President Trump.”
Many Republicans are understandably outraged by the failure to disclose the discovery of classified materials in an unsecured office in a timely manner.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) asked the National Archives why the finding was not immediately released. In a letter, Comer pointed to the hesitation just before the midterm elections to reveal that the president was potentially violating the law.
Comer argued that, in contrast, the National Archives and Records Administration “instigated a public and unprecedented FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago — former President Trump’s home — to retrieve presidential records.”
Rep. Jim Banks asked: “Why are we just finding out now?”
And House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) termed the failure to properly disclose the discovery “troubling.” She added that it is with good reason that the U.S. public no longer trusts “the DOJ and FBI, who have targeted Joe Biden’s political opponents.”
All raise valid issues. While Biden’s backers trumpet that his personal attorneys immediately notified authorities upon their discovery of improperly kept classified materials, they have yet to address why this bombshell was hidden from the American public at such a critical moment.
