House Judiciary Committee opens probe into Biden documents

The House Judiciary Committee on Friday announced that it was opening an investigation into classified documents found in President Biden's Delaware home, as well as his former office in Washington, D.C.

The committee, which has been led by the GOP since the new congressional term at the beginning of January, sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland confirming their probe. The letter, penned by Judiciary Committee head Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) along with Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) said, "The American people deserve transparency and accountability."

Garland had previously appointed Robert Hur, a former U.S. Attorney, as a special counsel to investigate the incident, and the Judiciary Committee's letter added that "the circumstances of this appointment raise fundamental oversight questions that the Committee routinely examines."

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Classified documents were discovered this past November at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., a think tank established by Biden in 2018, and a second batch of documents was found in Biden's garage in his Wilmington, Delaware residence the next month. The improperly stored documents reportedly dated back to Biden's time as vice president.

Republicans have taken to comparing Biden's document case to the alleged mishandling of documents by former President Donald Trump. However, many media outlets have noted that the cases are significantly different, given that Trump, unlike Biden, appears to have made efforts to obstruct investigations into his case.

The White House said Saturday that six classified pages had been found in Biden's house, and a source told CBS News the total number in Biden's possession was around 20. Trump, however, reportedly had more than 300 classified documents that were improperly stored at his home, and Reuters reported that the FBI found more than 11,000 total government records in Trump's private possession.