Rep Comer Requests Visitor Logs for President’s Wilmington, DE Home
Although we understand that past president’s oftentimes have taken classified documents and personal items with them upon departing office, inadvertently or otherwise, this has been more highlighted recently with first former President Trump and then President Biden. While presidents have the authority to declassify documents, as former President Trump claimed was the case of documents seized by the FBI in August 2022, vice presidents do not have the same power. The three sets of records recently found at first the Biden Penn Center (November 2, 2022) and in the garage and adjoining room at Biden’s weekend home (December 20, 2022; January 12, 2023) in Wilmington, DE, would not have been declassified because they were from the time that Biden was vice president.
As of November 18, 2022, the Bidens had spent approximately 185 days at their Wilmington, DE home. (1) This has caused Rep James Comer to request the visitor logs for the Biden’s Delaware home. In a January 15th letter to the White House, Rep Comer wrote: “President Biden’s mishandling of classified materials raises the issues of whether he has jeopardized our national security. Without a list of individuals who have visited his residence, the American people will never know who had access to these highly sensitive documents.” (2) Because the documents at the Biden residence were not stored properly in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) or otherwise locked and secured, Rep Comer further states: “It is troubling that classified documents have been improperly stores at the home of President Biden for at least six years, raising questions about who may have reviewed or had access to classified information. Additionally, President Biden’s personal attorneys, who do not possess security clearances, and White House staff continue to access and search the President’s residence…” (2) The White House has until January 30, 2023 to respond to the oversight committee by providing information related to the searches of both locations.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has assigned special counsel to investigate President Biden’s possession of classified documents as he did with the documents found at Mar-a-Lago, former President Trump’s home.
(1) President Joe Biden's frequent Delaware trips have cost taxpayers at least $11M (nypost.com)