White House goes on offensive against GOP over classified documents
Katherine Doyle
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The White House accused House Republicans of waging “political stunts” in response to the Justice Department investigation into President Joe Biden‘s possible mishandling of classified information, striking a newly combative tone as the political blowback gathers steam.
New secret documents were discovered at Biden’s residence over the weekend, ratcheting up controversy around the former vice president. The revelations have drawn condemnation from Republicans in Congress, who are calling for transparency from the White House and congressional investigations into the matter.
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“They’ve decided that it’s time for more political stunts and theater,” White House spokesman Ian Sams told reporters on Tuesday. “They’re faking outrage, even though they defended the former president’s actions.”
Sams referenced an interview with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) during a CNN appearance Sunday, in which the Republican said that his “biggest concern isn’t the declassified documents.”
The White House pointed to Republicans’ response to former President Donald Trump’s refusal to return classified files to the National Archives last year held at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Officials have stressed that Biden is cooperating fully with the Justice Department.
“These are the same Republicans who didn’t make a peep when it came to the former president’s handling of material,” Sams said. “In their moments of honesty, I think they’ve already admitted that they don’t care about the underlying issue here. We’re not going to hesitate from calling that out.”
Aides have stressed Biden’s commitment to cooperating with the Justice Department after several batches of secret documents were found at his Washington think tank and Wilmington home.
Biden “cares very deeply about being cooperative in this process and ensuring that the Justice Department can make these sorts of decisions independently,“ Sams said.
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Sams noted the “tension” of navigating calls for transparency while the investigation is ongoing. “Some of the reason we also can’t [elaborate] is because we did this in accordance with the proper protocols of handing the materials over to the proper authorities immediately,” he said.
He declined to say whether the president would sit for an interview with the special counsel overseeing the case.
The White House has said no visitors records are available for the president’s residence.