The discovery of classified documents in a storage space in the garage of President Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware home has brought fresh scrutiny to the White House’s refusal to release the visitor logs for the president’s private home.
The White House has released visitor logs to the White House but not records on who visited Mr. Biden at his Wilmington home and beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
In October, the Secret Service said they couldn’t find any records that identify visitors to the Delaware homes that the president has traveled to more than 50 times since taking office.
Visitor logs for presidential residences are traditionally made public, though former President Donald Trump did not release records for the White House or his residences.
Responding to a Freedom of Information Act request from The New York Post last fall, the Secret Service said at the time that the search for visitor logs “produced no responsive records.”
On Thursday, after the White House revealed that documents with classified markings were found in a storage space in Biden’s garage, with another document being located in an adjacent room, Republicans renewed their calls for transparency.
“The more evidence that is revealed shows the need for true oversight that will shine a light on any and all illegal activity. We need to know why President Biden has refused to release his visitor logs at his Delaware residences while classified documents were hidden in the garage when foreign visitors with off-the-books meetings could have had access to this information,” said Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York Republican, in a statement.
Ms. Stefanik said the issue is one of national security.
Rep Guy Reschenthaler, Pennsylvania Republican, also called for more transparency.
“Biden hid in his basement during the 2020 campaign. Biden hid classified documents in his garage. What else is Biden hiding in his home,” he tweeted.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last fall, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates sidestepped questions about the visitor logs and insisted Mr. Biden is leading “the most transparent administration in American history.”
He noted that Mr. Biden “restored the practice of releasing visitor logs” after it was discontinued by Mr. Trump.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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