House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) on Monday issued a subpoena to former White House counsel Dana Remus as part of the committee’s investigation on President Biden’s handling of classified documents dating from his tenure as vice president.
Comer asks Remus to appear for a deposition as part of the committee’s investigation into classified documents found at Biden’s home and a former office.
It also requests transcribed interviews with four White House staffers: Annie Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, Katharine Reilly and Ashley Williams.
Arriving, in the subpoenasays Remus knew “why White House staff began frequent visits to the Penn Biden Center in 2022, where classified documents, including documents related to Ukraine, were later discovered.”
Classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president were found in his Wilmington, Del., residence and in an office at the University of Pennsylvania in Washington, D.C., which Biden used after the end of the Obama administration.
The documents were discovered by officials who cleared the office last November, according to the White House, but they were not made public until January.
Attorney General Merrick Garland in January appointed Robert Hur as special advisor to look into the matter, and the White House confirmed earlier this month that Biden sitting for an interview with Hur as part of the investigation.
The subpoena says the Oversight Committee is seeking answers about the timeline of events leading up to the date the White House said the classified documents were discovered.
At the center of the subpoena is the question of why Remus contacted Kathy Chung, a Defense Department employee who was an aide to Biden when he was vice president, in May 2022 about classified documents.
“Specifically, the Committee requests clarification on the timeline of events prior to November 2, 2022 (the day, according to the White House and President Biden’s personal attorney, documents were discovered at the Penn Biden Center), the security of documents in the Penn Biden Center before and after Ms. Chung packed them, and President Biden’s history of potential mishandling of classified documents,” according to the subpoena.
The subpoena also asked why Remus was involved. Remus served as White House counsel between Biden’s inauguration and July 2022.
“The Committee questions why – if there is any valid reason why White House Counsel would be the appropriate coordinator for this task – the President’s personal lawyers assumed responsibility for this task after your departure in July 2022, instead of your successor as White House counsel. » according to the subpoena.
“Facts continue to emerge showing that the White House narrative about President Biden’s mishandling of classified materials does not hold water,” Comer said in a statement.
“It is imperative to know whether President Biden retained sensitive country-related documents involving his family’s foreign business dealings that brought millions to the Biden family,” he added.
Ian Sams, White House oversight spokesman, dismissed the subpoenas as “the latest example of extreme efforts by House Republicans to undermine the rule of law and interfere in investigations.” in progress of the Ministry of Justice”.
“Instead of doing their job to fund the government and avoid another extreme and dangerous government shutdown on their own, House Republicans are focused on a baseless fishing expedition just to try to smear the president for political purposes. policies,” Sams said.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee also criticized the move in a social media post, saying the House Republican Party should work to avoid a government shutdown.
“Instead of trying to prevent a government shutdown that threatens to derail our economy and harm working families, MAGA Republicans are writing (more) strongly worded letters. Why aren’t they focusing on the priorities of ordinary Americans? » they wrote in the post onformerly Twitter.
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