Becca Lower reporting for RedState
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has released a letter it sent to White House Counsel Edward Siskel on Wednesday, demanding answers on why "months" of coordination by White House employees on the allegedly mishandled Biden classified documents were missing from his reporting to Congress.
The tweet reads, in part:
BREAKING
We have discovered new information about the number of White House employees involved in President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents.
President Biden’s attorney stated that the discovery of classified documents at Penn Biden Center occurred on November 2, 2022.
Our Committee has developed evidence showing the timeline of relevant events began in 2021 and involved at least five White House employees.
President Biden and his legal team omitted months of communications, planning, and coordinating among multiple White House officials, a former VP staffer, Penn Biden Center employees, and President Biden’s personal attorneys to retrieve the boxes containing classified materials.
There is no reasonable explanation as to why this many White House employees and lawyers were so concerned with retrieving boxes they reportedly believed contained only personal documents and materials.
@RepJamesComer is demanding answers from White House Counsel Edward Siskel
A report on the revelation by Comer and the committee includes details on the bombshell information contained in the letter:
In a letter to White House counsel Edward Siskel obtained by CBS News, committee Chairman James Comer, Republican of Kentucky, said the timeline of events provided by Mr. Biden's personal attorney "omitted months of communications, planning, and coordinating."
According to the letter, a Penn Biden Center employee told the committee that on March 18, 2021, senior White House aide Annie Tomasini "[took] inventory of President Biden's documents and materials" stored at the center, where he had a private office after his vice presidency.
The witness also told investigators that on Oct. 13, 2022, Ashley Williams, deputy director of Oval Office Operations, removed "a few" of Mr. Biden's boxes.
It continues:
The committee, which has conducted three witness interviews, says on five occasions, White House employees, including former White House Counsel Dana Remus, and the president's former assistant Kathy Chung, a current Department of Defense employee, went to the Penn Biden Center to take inventory, pack up or remove materials. These visits occurred between March 2021 and mid-October 2022. [...]
Comer's letter continues, "There is no reasonable explanation as to why this many White House employees and lawyers were so concerned with retrieving boxes they believed only contained personal documents and materials."
In a sign that the committee's investigation is broadening, it is requesting transcribed interviews with Remus, Williams, Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, a top adviser to the first lady, and Katie Reilly, a West Wing aide. It is also asking for documentation and communication related to the documents. The committee has already interviewed Chung, who was then-Vice President Biden's assistant.
The letter comes several days after Pres. Biden was interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Hur about his handling of classified documents found at several locations, including the Penn Biden Center, as we reported.