Republican-led investigations into the classified documents scandal surrounding President Joe Biden have already been slowed by the selection of a special counsel.
Attorney General Merrick Garland selected former Trump appointee U.S. Attorney Robert Hur on Jan. 12 to serve as special counsel to investigate Biden’s potential mishandling of classified documents. The appointment has led to delays in at least one key GOP inquiry since then.
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The Republican-led Committee on Oversight and Accountability told the National Archives in early January 2023 that it was investigating whether there was “political bias” at the agency related to how it had handled the Biden saga versus former President Donald Trump’s classified records at Mar-a-Lago.
“For months, NARA failed to disclose to Committee Republicans or the American public that President Biden — after serving as Vice President — stored highly classified documents in a closet at his personal office. NARA learned about these documents days before the 2022 midterm elections and did not alert the public that President Biden was potentially violating the law,” Rep. James Comer (R-KY) told the archivist.
Comer’s committee said Monday that the National Archives had missed the deadline to hand over information.
Archivist Debra Wall had defended her agency’s actions in a letter to Comer last week — and she repeatedly cited special counsel Hur and the Department of Justice as a reason for her delay in providing key details.
Wall said her staff had informed Comer “that we had begun the search for responsive records, and that we would have to consult with DOJ regarding the release of any such records.”
“DOJ has advised it will need to consult with the newly appointed Office of Special Counsel (SCO) in DOJ, to assess whether information can be released without interfering with the SCO’s investigation,” the archivist told Republican investigators.
Wall added, “DOJ was not able to provide us with a specific date by which they will complete their review because they have not yet received the materials and because the SCO was only established on January 12.”
The archivist also asked Comer to delay interviews of her congressional affairs director, John Hamilton, and her general counsel, Gary Stern, “until DOJ completes its review of the documents, since any restrictions that apply to the documents will necessarily apply to the interviews.”
A spokesperson for the GOP-led Oversight Committee told the Washington Examiner on Monday the National Archives “has not produced the requested documents to the Committee at this time” and that “Comer’s request still stands and anticipates moving forward with a transcribed interview with NARA’s general counsel soon.”
Biden’s personal attorneys allegedly first discovered classified documents in Biden’s possession on Nov. 2 at the Penn Biden Center. Biden’s lawyers have since found more classified documents at Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home in December and in January, and the DOJ found even more when it conducted its own search Friday.
The White House has also used the special counsel appointment to deflect questions about what Biden knew and when he knew it, citing the investigation by Hur and the DOJ.
White House spokesman Ian Sams has repeatedly pointed to the special counsel as a reason why the Biden White House won’t answer many questions about the Biden classified documents saga, even saying some answers might not even be provided until after Hur’s investigation has fully concluded.
Sams cited an earlier January statement from Biden personal attorney Bob Bauer, who claimed that the Biden team has “attempted to balance the importance of public transparency where appropriate with the established norms and limitations necessary to protect the investigation’s integrity” and that “these considerations require avoiding the public release of detail relevant to the investigation while it is ongoing.”
“So, with the appointment of a special counsel, we will continue to be limited in what we can share publicly,” Sams told reporters on Jan. 17. “We’re going to have to refer you to DOJ for questions about the special counsel’s work, but many of the answers from here may need to wait until the conclusion of the special counsel’s review.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked by reporters later that day if it was safe to assume that all of the classified Biden records were now in the custody of the National Archives, and she also cited the special counsel as a reason not to answer.
“I’m just going to continue to be prudent here. I’m going to let this ongoing review that is happening, this legal process that is happening, and let that process continue under the special counsel,” Jean-Pierre said. “We’re not — I’m not going to comment from here. … When it comes to legal issues, we have been very clear that we are not going to comment.”
She added, “And so, I would refer you to the Department of Justice, refer you to the special counsel as it relates to specifics on this issue.”
Jean-Pierre referred reporters to the special counsel multiple other times when declining to answer questions during the press conference and repeatedly referred reporters to the special counsel again Jan. 18.
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Sams repeated the mantra again Monday, saying, “With the appointment of a special counsel, we will continue to be limited in what we can share publicly.” He again proceeded to refer pointed questions to DOJ and the special counsel.
Hur, the new special counsel, has released only one statement — on the day of his appointment — saying, “I will conduct the assigned investigation with fair, impartial, and dispassionate judgment.”
