The White House on Monday tepidly offered to “accommodate” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s request for information related to classified materials found at President Biden’s former office and Delaware home.
In a letter to Mr. Comer, Kentucky Republican, White House Counsel Stuart Delery wrote that the administration does not have possession of the documents that the Justice Department seized as part of its investigation into Mr. Biden’s potentially illegal handling of classified materials.
Mr. Delery also promised cooperation with Mr. Comer’s information requests, but warned that would have to be balanced with the Justice Department probe. The letter suggests there will be a limit to how much the White House will share with Congress.
“As I’m sure you are aware, these considerations include the critical need to protect the integrity and independence of law enforcement investigations,” Mr. Delery wrote.
The letter is the first White House response to Republicans since the House Oversight Committee announced it would investigate Mr. Biden’s handling of classified materials.
Mr. Delery’s letter was in response to two requests by Mr. Comer for information about the materials found in November at the Biden-Penn Center and Mr. Biden’s Wilmington home.
Mr. Comer is seeking all classified documents retrieved by Biden aides or lawyers at any location, communications between the White House and Justice Department officials about the documents and a list of aides who searched for those documents.
On Monday, Mr. Comer upped his request, asking for all documents and communications related to the searches of Mr. Biden’s Wilmington home as well as a visitor log.
The White House on Saturday announced the FBI carried out a search and discovered six more items with classified documents.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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