Republican asks Pentagon if Biden’s discovery of classified documents threatens national security: GOP ramps up pressure on White House by demanding intelligence briefings and urging Congress to investigate
- Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, wrote the letter
- Rogers gave defense officials until Jan. 25 to say whether the documents found at the Penn Biden Center compromised national security or harmed Americans
- President Joe Biden himself said he took the matter “seriously.”
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers on Thursday sent a letter to Biden Defense officials calling for a national security assessment into classified files found in the president’s old office
Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers on Thursday asked the Pentagon to investigate whether the classified files discovered in President Joe Biden’s old private office pose a threat to national security.
This comes amid growing legal pressure to disclose more details about the documents, e.g. B. what they are and who had access to them.
House Republicans have already threatened to use their new majority to launch an investigation into the matter if the Biden administration does not respond quickly to requests for information.
In a letter to senior defense officials, Rogers asked if Americans were “put at risk” by Biden’s possession of classified documents from his vice presidency.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday that he would appoint a special counsel to investigate the situation.
“It is critical to assess whether potential harm to national security, particularly to Department of Defense stocks, is due to improper storage, handling, or disclosure of classified information held in a closet at a nongovernmental facility such as the Biden Center,” he said Rogers wrote.[DepartmentofDefenseequitiesresultedfromanyimproperstoragehandlingordisclosureofclassifiedinformationstoredinaclosetofanon-governmentalentityliketheBidenCenter’Rogerswrote[DepartmentofDefenseequitiesresultedfromanyimproperstoragehandlingordisclosureofclassifiedinformationstoredinaclosetofanon-governmentalentityliketheBidenCenter’Rogerswrote
“In addition, it must also be determined whether highly classified material found in the closet could have put Americans at risk if disclosed to, or accessed by, those who do not have the necessary authorization or need to know.” who intend to do wrong or worse.”
The first batch of documents was found by Biden’s private attorneys on November 2, 2022, as he was vacating a private office he used at the Penn Biden Center, a University of Pennsylvania-affiliated think tank in Washington, DC.
President Joe Biden said he was taking the matter “seriously” as White House officials fended off growing scrutiny
The existence of a second batch was reported on Wednesday and confirmed by the White House on Thursday afternoon. A statement from the White House Office revealed they were found in a room next to Biden’s garage in Wilmington, Delaware.
The letter from Rogers, which specifically refers to the first incident involving files found at the Penn Biden Center, gives defense officials until Jan. 25 to respond.
“It is imperative that this committee be kept informed of the nature of classified data when it affects the safety of soldiers, Department of Defense operations, or the protection of Department of Defense assets,” the Armed Forces chief said.
Rogers asked the Pentagon to disclose “the subject matter” of each classified document and its classification level, a list of all those who knew it was there and who have since accessed it, and various communications and documentation regarding its transmission and existence .
“Thank you for your immediate attention to an evolving matter that has probably been on your radar for some time,” the Alabama congressman wrote.
The letter asks Pentagon officials to respond with the requested documents and communications by Jan. 25
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer sent two letters on Tuesday also inquiring about the classified documents. One was addressed to the National Archives while the other was addressed to the White House Office.
He told reporters on Capitol Hill that he still hadn’t heard anything as of Thursday afternoon.
Biden officials have largely avoided going into details of the matter.
The President himself said during a Tuesday news briefing that he was taking the matter “seriously” and was cooperating “fully” with the Justice Department.
The first batch reportedly included intelligence memos and records relating to Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Iran. All 10 ranked pages were reportedly created from 2013 to 2016.
But the majority of the documents found were intimate family records, including pages discussing funeral arrangements for Biden’s son Beau.