Jim Jordan will be the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s first investigation. It will focus on President Biden’s handling of classified documents, and the Justice Department investigation.
Jordan, R-Ohio is leading the investigation. This comes just one day after Attorney General Merrick Galrland appointed Robert Hur, a former U.S. lawyer, to investigate the matter. After a second cache of classified documents was discovered in the garage at Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware home, the Justice Department elevated it to a special-counsel investigation. The Penn Biden Center Washington, D.C. offices were where the first documents were discovered.
“We are monitoring the actions of the Justice Department in relation to former Vice President Biden’s mishandling classified documents, including the apparently ununauthorized possession of classified materials at a Washington, D.C. private office and in his Wilmington, Delaware, garage,” Jordan and Rep. Mike Johnson, R.La., wrote in Friday’s letter to Garland.
They wrote that Robert Hur was appointed Special Counsel by you on January 12, 2023 to investigate these issues. “The circumstances surrounding this appointment raise fundamental oversight issues that the Committee routinely reviews. We ask for your cooperation in our investigation.
Jordan is questioning the DOJ’s alleged concealment. The White House acknowledged that the Penn Biden Center’s first batch of documents was discovered just days before the 2022 midterm elections. However, they were not made public until January.
Jordan wrote that it was unclear when the Department learned about the existence and if it deliberately concealed the information from the public just before the 2022 election. It is not clear what conversations, if any., the Department had about President Biden’s mishandling of classified materials. This Department appears to have acted differently than it did in similar circumstances.
They cited the FBI’s unprecedented raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence last summer as an example of how DOJ has handled classified documents differently than it did with Biden in the past. Biden attacked Trump at the time for not keeping classified documents.
“In reality, on August 8th 2022, despite publicly available evidence that President Trump had cooperated, you personally approved the decision for a warrant to allow excessive and unprecedented access into his private residence.” The letter stated that on August 15, 2022, Committee Republicans sent a request to you and FBI Director Christopher Wray for documents and information regarding the FBI raid of President Trump’s home.
It stated that the FBI and Department of Justice had not been able to comply with the request. “Our requests are still outstanding.”
Jordan demands all communications and documents regarding Hur’s appointment and between the FBI and DOJ related to classified materials.
DOJ acknowledged receipt of the letter, but declined further comment.
Thursday’s statement by Garland stated that Hur’s appointment as special counsel was crucial for an impartial review of the matter.
Garland stated, “I am confident Mr. Hur will fulfill his responsibility in an equitable and urgent manner and in compliance with the highest traditions this department.”