The Department of Justice (DOJ) is responding to House Republican lawmakers’ request for information into the investigation of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified information.
In a letter to Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Mike Johnson (R-La.), Assistant Attorney General Carlos Flipe Uriarte noted the lawmakers expressed “an interest in learning when the Department became aware that documents had been discovered and the sequence of events that followed.”
“In connection with appointing a Special Counsel, the Attorney General has provided significant information about how the matter came into the Department, the steps the Department took to investigate, and his appointment decision,” the letter continued.
It also laid out a timeline and noted the National Archives Office of Inspector General informed the DOJ about the discovery of documents with classification markings at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2022.
The letter proceeds to recount the process that led Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel earlier this month.
Uriarte continued, “Your letter also requests non-public information that is central to the ongoing Special Counsel investigation. The Department’s longstanding policy is to maintain the confidentiality of such information regarding open matters.”
“Disclosing non-public information about ongoing investigations could violate statutory requirements or court orders, reveal road maps of our investigations, and interfere with the Department’s ability to gather facts, interview witnesses, and bring criminal prosecutions where warranted,” he added.
Read the letter below:
DOJ to Jim Jordan re: Biden classified documents: "Disclosures to Congress about active investigations risk jeopardizing those investigations and creating the appearance that Congress may be exerting improper political pressure or attempting to influence Department decisions…" pic.twitter.com/T8oUVYkEDn
— Farnoush Amiri (@FarnoushAmiri) January 30, 2023
The letter also expresses concern sharing information to Congress about investigations could create “the appearance that Congress may be exerting improper political pressure or attempting to influence Department decisions in certain cases.”
Jordan has raised questions about the handling of Biden’s case compared to the investigation of former President Donald Trump.
During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” he suggested search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was the result of the alleged weaponization of the DOJ.
However, moderator Chuck Todd pushed back as he noted, “There was nine months between the initial action that the archives made for requests of documents before they even turned it over to the Justice Department.”
“The subpoena was issued 60 days before they actually executed the subpoena. And more importantly, the only time the public found out about it is because Donald Trump told the public about it,” he continued.
Todd added, “You paint it as a picture of the FBI did this, this, and this within hours of each other, when it was actually a year and a half of Donald Trump not complying with any of the requests from National Archives. A year and a half.”
EXCLUSIVE: Trump did not comply with National Archives requests for 18 months before the FBI searched his home for classified docs.
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 29, 2023
Rep. @Jim_Jordan (R-Ohio): "They raided Trump's home; they haven't raided Biden's home."@ChuckTodd: "Because Biden didn't defy a subpoena." pic.twitter.com/YCVetCl7x3
“President Trump had documents locked in a room with Secret Service protecting them. President Biden had documents in his garage and in a think tank that was funded by the Chinese. I think there’s a difference,” Jordan replied.