Comer: The White House Refuses to Be Transparent About President Biden’s Mishandling of Classified Documents - United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today delivered remarks at the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing with Special Counsel Robert Hur about President Biden’s willful retention of classified materials. During his remarks, Chairman Comer highlighted how the Oversight Committee’s investigation has exposed the White House’s and President Biden’s personal attorney’s false narrative of events. Chairman Comer outlined how the White House is obstructing the committee’s investigation and appears to have lied to the American people about President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents. Chairman Comer concluded by calling for transparency for the American people.

Below are Chairman Comer’s remarks as prepared for delivery.

In August 2022, President Biden questioned in a 60 Minutes interview “how anyone can be that irresponsible” when asked about classified documents in the possession of former President Trump.

But when President Biden said this, he knew he had stashed classified materials in several unsecure locations for years, dating back to his time as vice president and even as U.S. senator.

President Biden, the White House, and his personal attorneys have not been honest with the American people about his willful retention of classified material and continue to hide information from Congress.

President Biden’s attorneys claim to have first discovered classified material at Penn Biden Center on November 2, 2022. However, President Biden and his lawyers kept it secret from the American people before the midterm elections.

CBS News broke the story in January 2023, leaving Americans to wonder if the White House had any intention of ever disclosing that President Biden hoarded classified documents for years.

One of my first actions after becoming Chairman of the House Oversight Committee was to launch an investigation into President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents. This investigation started before Special Counsel Hur was named.

And what we’ve found is alarming.

Information obtained through multiple transcribed interviews conducted by the Oversight Committee contradict the White House’s and President Biden’s personal attorney’s narrative about the discovery of classified documents at the Penn Biden Center.

In fact, the real timeline began in the spring of 2021 – not November 2022 as the White House claimed.

Additionally, the classified documents were not kept in a locked closet as asserted by the White House.

We’ve also learned that five White House employees and a Department of Defense employee were involved in the early stages of coordinating the organizing, moving, and removing of boxes that were later found to contain classified materials.

There is no reasonable explanation as to why so many White House employees were concerned with retrieving boxes they believed only contained personal documents and materials.

Why did President Biden keep these specific documents in unsecure locations for years?

Many questions remain, but now the White House is obstructing Congress as we seek the truth for the American people.

We’ve subpoenaed former White House Counsel Dana Remus to appear for a deposition to provide information to our committee, but the White House is seeking to block her testimony.

We also subpoenaed the Department of Justice for the audio recordings and transcript of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur. These were due the morning of the State of the Union.

Only this morning—a couple of hours before today’s hearing—the Department of Justice finally provided the transcript of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur.

The timing is not coincidental.

Although we have had little time to review the transcripts, from what we have seen, it is clear why the White House did not want Special Counsel Hur’s final report to be released.

The White House has refused to be transparent with the American people about the President’s mishandling of classified documents.

And worse, they have appeared to have lied: about the timeline, about who handled the documents, and even about the contents of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur.

That is why today’s hearing is important.

Transparency is what we seek today. We look forward to Special Counsel Hur’s testimony.