(RepublicanDaily.org) – The Department of Justice says that it cannot comply with part of Congress’ broad request for non-public records related to the Biden document mishandling scandal. The DOJ claimed that releasing private documents related to the case would “risk compromising the integrity of the investigation,” CBS News reported.
The House Judiciary Committee, which is now led by Representative Jim Jordan (R. Ohio), sent a letter to the DOJ requesting a broad spate of documents related to Biden’s mishandling of Obama administration-era classified documents.
In a response letter first reported on by Politico, the DOJ “rebuffed” this request, noting that the letter also asked for “non-public information” that is “central” to the Special Counsel’s investigation, The Hill reported. The DOJ claimed that disclosing this non-public information would violate their long-established protocols.
Russell Dye, a spokesman for Representative Jordan, told The Hill that the DOJ’s refusal to release the general information was a “lack of cooperation”. Dye called the refusal a “double standard” and said that the Congress members are “rightly concerned” about the DOJ’s general findings.
Dye explained that Members’ concerns stemmed from the national security implications of the Penn Biden Center, the think tank housing some of the classified documents. Penn Biden center also received donations from Chinese Communist Party affiliates.
The DOJ investigation follows the public disclosure of Obama-era classified documents discovered at the Penn Biden Center in 2022, and the later discovery of classified documents at President Biden’s private residence in Delaware. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Robert Hur to investigate the improper handling of the documents in January.
The DOJ said that it is working to get the Senate information on the Trump and Biden classified document investigations, Fox News reported on January 30.
Former President Donald Trump is also under investigation for classified documents he stored at his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Since the discovery of classified documents, public officials have been under intense scrutiny for mishandling classified materials, taking bipartisan heat. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates told NBC News that “carelessness” was to blame for Biden’s mishandling of classified documents.
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