The National Archives has yet to reply to demands for a briefing about the sensitive materials found at President Joe Biden’s residence and a Biden think tank, according to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), who made the statement on Saturday.
The official with authority over the National Archives, Comer, told Fox News that the National Archives has been silent on the status of the recently found records.
When anything of this nature occurs, this agency must hold a briefing. Comer affirmed that “they have not.” While we have asked for a briefing, we have yet to receive any information in response to our inquiries. What we have here is cause for serious alarm. As this situation develops, we will deal with the National Archives. However, at this time, we are concerned about who may have access to these files.
As Comer pointed out, Biden’s team’s assertion that his attorneys were attempting to evict him from his office was highly implausible. Nobody thinks the attorneys are in command of the relocation crew,” Comer said.
“Comer added that Joe Biden promised the American people that his government would be the most open in history. If I were to argue, this government is the least available. CBS’s in-depth reporting is solely responsible for the public’s current awareness of these files. Without the leak to CBS, we would not know that Joe Biden possessed these secret documents, and a special counsel would not have been appointed. Therefore, this is highly alarming.
Author NEIL CAVUTO: Let’s try to guess what he’d want to look into. James Comer, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee. It’s great to have you here, Mr. Chairman. The return of your company is much appreciated.
Republican Kentucky Senator JAMES COMER: I appreciate you having me.
CAVUTO, NEIL: To what extent do we know this? Where did you hear about these papers? Specifically how secret some of them are, perhaps. Some of them allegedly had top classification markings and were discovered in the president’s garage in Wilmington. You may have more information than I do. How much have you gleaned?
Republican Kentucky Senator JAMES COMER: Unfortunately, I can’t say I’m more knowledgeable than you. And it worries me much since I oversee the National Archives. Each time an incident of this nature occurs, this organization is responsible for briefing its superiors. Not at all. We’ve asked for a briefing, but we’ve gotten nothing but silence in response to our straightforward inquiries. What we have here is cause for serious alarm. As this situation develops, we will deal with the National Archives. However, at the moment, there are several worries about who saw these files. We find it hard to accept, as Joe Biden did, that his team of attorneys stumbled upon it while rearranging some boxes. The idea that attorneys are in command of the moving crew is laughable. And I wonder if all the records ended up in the same place, say the Biden Center, and then someone from the Biden Center carried some boxes to the house and went over the material there. There are, like, a lot of unknowns here. We are unable to provide any information at this time.
CAVUTO, NEIL: In specific ways, we can piece together the history of this information. As you probably already know, Chairman Merrick Garland knew about this as early as November. That was before the congressional midterms. To what extent the president was informed of this is unknown, but we know that he was aware of it at the time. So, was there a reason for the delay in making it public and having a special counsel appointed much sooner, or if that worry you?
Republican Kentucky Senator JAMES COMER Worryingly so. Joe Biden assured the citizens of the United States that his government would be the most open in history. This government may be the least available in all of history. CBS’s in-depth reporting is solely responsible for the public’s current awareness of these files. Without the leak to CBS, we would not know that Joe Biden had access to these secret records, and there would be no need for a special counsel to investigate. Thus, this is cause for serious alarm—another instance of America’s two-tiered judicial system. The current president has been handled differently from the last one; this is just one more example. Because of this, we’ve formed a committee to investigate the DOJ’s growing arsenal of tools for social control.
CAVUTO, NEIL: Congressman, I share your interest in Joe Biden’s statements on his apparent ignorance of this matter. That may be true or false, but isn’t that more of a problem if it is true? Could anything be more concerning? Despite his ignorance, he had sensitive information.
Republican Kentucky Senator JAMES COMER That’s right; you nailed it, Neil. Several congressional Democrats will use this line of defense: “Well, he didn’t even know about it,” as an excuse for his actions. But here’s what we do know, and that makes matters much worse. I can tell you this because of the inquiry into the Biden family’s influence peddling: the Bidens have a long history of collecting anonymous gifts from China, whether for the Biden Center for Diplomacy, Hunter’s dubious business transactions, or Hunter’s artwork. This is a trend, and that’s quite problematic. You might wonder why China would put so much money into the Bidens. Consider the recent revelation that Penn successfully lobbied the FBI to abandon its investigation into Chinese influence in the American educational system and the theft of American R&D secrets known as the “China initiative.” During the Biden administration, the FBI was ordered to stop doing this due to accusations of racism. That would be a very worthwhile investment for China. The Bidens threaten national security, and the improper storage of secret materials is just one more reason we must investigate them.
CAVUTO, NEIL: I was curious, Chairman, whether you wanted to speak with special counsel Robert Hur about your investigations, regardless of where they go.
Republican Kentucky Senator JAMES COMER What he does, I believe, will determine the outcome. Special counsels have never won me over. They should not have initiated a special counsel for Trump. As for a recall vote for Biden, it isn’t necessary. And then Merrick Garland had to call one for Joe Biden after he’d already done so for Trump. He was trapped and couldn’t escape. The goals of these special investigations have never been achieved. They can’t be contained inside the boundaries of their research. As Merrick Garland has stated, the confidential records involving former President Joe Biden are the only subject of the special counsel. I don’t want them to widen their probe only to thwart the oversight committee’s inquiry into possible influence peddling by the Biden family.
CAVUTO, NEIL: They’ll split out and do it separately. If they did it [separately], I could see why people may think that. This is because, obviously, in the case of Donald Trump and the special counsel assigned to look into him by Merrick Garland, there was an attempt to get Jack Smith to talk before various committees — the special counsel in that case — and he refused. I do not doubt that Robert Hur would take the same stance. The American public seeing things develop, may be sure that the authorities’ inquiries will go unabated. A legacy like yours will endure. I am unaware of the Senate’s current agenda. Indeed, there are several probes to be conducted.
Republican Kentucky Senator JAMES COMER did much of the digging around. It’s a shame that Congress has to waste any time looking into whether or not the Chinese government has compromised the current administration. However, what has come to light over the past several days is the reality that China provided nearly all of the funding for the Biden center for diplomacy. And it’s concerning that China keeps taking our manufacturing jobs despite widespread agreement among all Americans that we ought to stand up to them because of their theft of our intellectual property, robbery of our patents, manipulation of their currency, and human rights violations. They still, you know, pose a threat to the United States. Even Nevertheless, the current administration has ties to China in virtually every area. Since this raises serious concerns, we must conduct an investigation. And, you know, the one good thing about Biden having these secret files is that it proves the legitimacy of our inquiry.
OK, that’s OK with me, NEIL CAVUTO. It will be evident to us. It will be one among several. Thanks for coming out on a Saturday, Chairman; we’ll be keeping a careful eye on things. It’s great to visit you as much as possible.