House Republicans have begun their probe of President Joe Biden after new Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan ordered an investigation of the POTUS' classified documents scandal.
The inquiry comes as the White House faces questions regarding the timing of the files' disclosure. The first batch of classified documents was first discovered in November, shortly before the 2022 midterm elections that gave the Republican Party control over the lower chamber of Congress.
Joe Biden's Classified Documents Scandal
Now, armed with the majority, the GOP has vowed to scrutinize the Biden administration. News of the first discovery was revealed on Monday, followed by a disclosure of the second wave of classified documents on Thursday.
On that day, Attorney-General Merrick Garland also announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the matter. Rep. Jim Jordan of the GOP, the head of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) saying that the events "raise fundamental oversight questions that the Committee oversees," as per BBC.
Jordan also questioned whether or not the department "actively concealed this information from the public on the eve of the 2022 election." The Republican's letter read that American citizens deserved transparency and accountability from their most-senior executive branch law enforcement officials.
The GOP member has called for all documents related to the findings and the appointment of a special counsel to be provided, setting a deadline of Jan. 27, 2023. White House officials said they were fully cooperating with the DOJ's inquiry and with all required legal processes on disclosures upon discovering the documents.
Several Republican lawmakers have called on the White House to release visitor logs of Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, where the first batch of classified documents was discovered. The papers are believed to come from his time as vice president under the Obama administration and were stored in a locked garage.
Mirroring Donald Trump's Woes
The GOP cited similar situations where the DOJ allegedly acted differently to how they handled Biden's classified documents controversy. This was a reference to former United States President Donald Trump being criticized for a slew of government documents being discovered at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to Fox News.
The situation over Biden's classified documents scandal is set to undermine Democrats' attempts to hold Republicans accountable for their issues. The former president's retention of hundreds of documents and his continued attempts to keep them from being transferred to the National Archives appears to be a more serious issue.
However, Biden's growing embarrassment from the recent findings offers a huge opportunity to the new pro-Trump House majority. Republicans are set to launch an investigative machine that seeks to prove their long-held belief that the left has weaponized the federal government and intelligence agencies against conservatives.
President Biden's harsh criticism of Trump regarding classified documents has now come back to haunt him and opens him up to criticisms of hypocrisy. There is also the question of how possible criminal charges being filed against the former president would affect the investigation into Biden's situation, said CNN.
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