The National Archives says it cannot share information about recently discovered classified documents from the Obama-Biden administration with the House Oversight and Accountability Committee until it consults with the Department of Justice.
The department says it has to make sure the information it shares will not interfere with the criminal probe the DOJ has launched in regard to the classified documents.
The letter, sent by acting Archivist Debra Steidel Wall to House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), stresses the agency is committed “to working cooperatively” with Comer and his staff, but that their efforts must “be balanced with the need to protect Executive branch equities, particularly as they relate to ongoing criminal law enforcement investigations by the DOJ.”
The letter also asks Comer to delay his interview request with National Archives Director of Congressional Affairs John Hamilton and General Counsel Gary M. Stein, noting their answers would be similarly hamstrung by the DOJ probe.
Comer has promised to investigate Biden and his family’s finances once Republicans took control of the House of Representatives.
Republicans have criticized Democrats, the National Archives, and other government agencies of being hypocritical for not showing the same level of outrage and urgency about the Biden documents as they did for the classified documents found at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last year. Some have noted that the same could be said about Republicans, only in reverse.
Comer says further investigations into the Trump administration by the Republicans are no longer necessary because the Democrats investigated him so often during and after his presidency.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed special counsels to lead the investigations in both cases.
In the letter, Steidel Wall defends the Archives, saying its actions in both cases “have been entirely consistent and without political bias,” noting that the National Archives only spoke publicly about the issues after they had been reported in the press.
Comer had set a deadline of January 24 for the Archives to share the information. Steidel Wall said she asked the DOJ to expedite their review so the Archive can respond “as close as possible” to that deadline but noted the DOJ did not provide her with a timeline.