Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), who is an incoming Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee, slammed Joe Biden for being what he called a “serial classified document hoarder.”
Joining CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Turner asked, “What’s amazing about all this is it takes us to the question of why were these documents here? Well, now that we learned that some of these go back to his Senate time, you know, clearly he’s … become a serial classified document hoarder. Why did he have these? Who did he show them to? I mean, the only reason you can think of as to why anyone would take classified documents out of a classified space at home … is to show them to somebody. Who did he show them to?”
GOP Rep. Mike Turner: Clearly [Biden] has become a serial classified document hoarder. Why did he have these? Who did he show them to? Is it connected to the Biden family businesses? pic.twitter.com/RAORmUbgk7
— Mariana (@lonestarherd) January 23, 2023
An additional grouping of allegedly misplaced documents was discovered Friday after the FBI conducted a “consensual” search of Biden’s residence in Wilmington, Delaware.
Turner compared the situation with when the FBI decided to raid the personal residence of former President Donald Trump, saying, “We wouldn’t have this issue if it hadn’t been for Biden’s attorney general … making the decision to raid former President Trump’s house looking for … classified documents that were being held there.”
CBS host Margaret Brennan responded by defending Biden’s scandal, saying, “Well, you know the differences of course, too. I want to talk about the Biden situation. But just to clarify, when you reference President Trump, there were 300 classified documents; there was a warrant; there was refusal to comply in terms of handing things over. And the White House and the president’s lawyer are pointing out that in the case of Biden, he granted permission, and this was consensual for the DOJ to come in and search. Does the fact that the Justice Department conducted the search signify anything more to you, and do you have any insight into the sensitivity of the documents?”
Turner confidently answered, “Sure, absolutely. I think this looks more like a cover-up than an investigation.”
Brennan pressed Turner on if he could share “any facts to back up your … allegations that he was hoarding things in terms of intention to take classified material.”
“Well, they didn’t fly to his home without him,” he replied. “They went on a train with him from … his Senate offices and then in boxes that he was in charge of.”
“The chain of custody here is going to be important, because we know that these were in Joe Biden’s hands and Joe Biden’s control, then ended up behind his Corvette in his garage and in his [Penn Biden Center] office — that he did not control — and also throughout his house; so the special counsel is going to have to deal with the issue of what was the chain of custody?”
Turner additionally questioned why Biden possessed these documents in the first place, noting, “that is why the special counsel’s work is going to be really important, because I can think of no reason why the president should have taken home, as a senator or as vice president, any classified documents that clearly have no protection.”
In related news, House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) has announced that House investigators plan to request that the Secret Service assist them in discovering who else may have had access to Biden’s classified documents.
