OPINION:
The American people can rest assured that the gavel for the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability will be wielded with authority and justice. For the past two years, congressional oversight was a complete and utter joke. The committee focused on a former president while the current one ushered in more scandals than a soap opera. But now, we will give the country what it deserves: the truth.
Look at the story unfolding about President Biden’s classified documents. Right now, we know several details that warrant investigation. Chief among them is the fact that the public was not made aware of the discovery of classified documents when they were found on Nov. 2 — just six days before the midterms. In addition, a midnight raid was not conducted at Mr. Biden’s Delaware residence in the same manner that occurred at Mar-a-Lago. Why? And why are Mr. Biden’s personal lawyers, who do not have security clearance, allowed to handle these documents?
We also know that the documents found in Mr. Biden’s garage were not secure, which means that anyone that entered that house could have parsed through potential information regarding national security. One such person we know about is Hunter Biden, the well-known son of the president. At one point in time, Hunter listed himself as the owner of the home, guaranteeing that he had access to the garage where the documents were found.
What’s more, we know that Hunter Biden already poses a possible security threat to our nation, and there are numerous examples that show it.
Take, for instance, Hunter’s infamous laptop. The disturbing twists and turns in that story have been perpetuated due to a lack of real oversight, but that ends now. Right before the midterm elections, NPR sent out a tweet stating, “We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories.” That tweet was, of course, in reference to the laptop and the potentially incriminating information contained on the device.
Twitter itself went so far as to block users from posting links to stories about the issue, including locking the New York Post’s account. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also acknowledged using his tech firms’ algorithms to downplay the story leading up to the 2020 midterms. And, of course, the president brazenly affirmed to the American people that he has never had any part of his family’s business dealings and worked tirelessly to hide the story, going so far as to use the Department of Treasury to block congressional access to more than 150 suspicious activity reports related to his family’s financial transactions.
If we break down the story of Hunter’s laptop and his father’s mishandling of classified documents, we can see several systemic failures in oversight that have led to widespread deception. First and foremost, the president’s misleading and false statements regarding his involvement with his son’s business interests, as well as his refusal to address the classified information he took.
Second, the weaponization of a federal agency to hide information from Congress and using the power of the presidency to hide a story until after the midterms. Third, the blatant disregard for journalistic standards from the mainstream media by refusing to cover the laptop story and their handling of the ongoing documents story. And finally, Big Tech’s suppression of information that mattered to voters ahead of a critical election year — a violation of the First Amendment. Aside from the obvious concerns about national security implications due to the Biden father-son duo, these are serious and tangible examples of an effort to rob the United States of the truth.
This is where the Oversight Committee comes into play. As a sitting member of the committee, I can confidently say we are ready to conduct investigations with the sole aim of revealing the truth. The American people elected our majority so that we can get to the bottom of these issues. There is no excuse for the last two years of ineptitude with congressional oversight. If the committee’s stated goal is to prevent corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse by the government, then we are obligated to investigate matters such as Hunter Biden’s laptop and the elder Biden’s classified documents. We do not care if we ruffle the wrong feathers, and we will not stop until the truth comes to light. That is simply our duty.
We promised the country that we would be transparent when given the majority. Unlike the last Congress, we intend to keep our word.
• Lisa McClain has served as U.S. representative for Michigan’s 9th Congressional District since 2021.
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