While Republicans have, unsurprisingly, been the most outspoken elected officials discussing Joe Biden‘s document woes, several Democrat lawmakers have also spoken in support of the investigation into the matter or been critical of the president over it.
At least three batches of classified documents have been found at Biden’s residence in Delaware in the past week, following recent reports emerging that such documents were found prior to the midterms at a private D.C. office he used before being elected in 2020. The documents found originate from Biden’s time as Vice President in the Obama administration.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday announced the appointment of Robert Hur as a special counsel heading up the investigation into the president’s handling of the documents. The White House has stressed that it is cooperating fully with the investigation, which remains ongoing at this time.
Adam Schiff, a prominent Democratic Representative from California, has been amongst the most prominent left-wing lawmakers to speak in support of the investigation, telling ABC‘s This Week on Sunday that it is important to determine if the documents could have jeopardized national security.
“I don’t think we can exclude the possibility without knowing more of the facts,” Schiff said. “We have asked for an assessment in the intelligence community of the Mar-a-Lago documents. I think we ought to get that same assessment of the documents found in the think tank, as well as the home of President Biden. I’d like to know what these documents were. I’d like to know what the IC’s assessment is, whether there was any risk of exposure and what the harm would be and whether any mitigation needs to be done.”
Despite that sentiment, Schiff also said that he believes that evidence so far indicates that Biden’s retention of the document was “inadvertent.”
Also speaking to ABC on Sunday, Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock expressed similar support for the investigation.
“Classified documents are to be taken seriously, and they are to be handled with a great deal of care, and no one is above the law,” Warnock said. “So I’m glad to see the Justice Department doing its work, and we ought to let that work proceed.”
Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, said that she was happy to see the investigation launched and said that any “deviance in regards to security protocols” should be taken seriously.
“Anytime there is a deviance in regards to security protocols, that should be taken seriously, it should be investigated,” Omar told MSNBC. “So you have to understand, right? Republicans are not really interested in upholding the law and following security protocols. What they’re interested in is playing political games and now only wanting to investigate Biden.”
Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Representative John Garamendi of California each went a step further, calling the situation “embarrassing” for Biden.
“Well, it’s certainly embarrassing,” Stabenow told NBC on Sunday. “They don’t think it’s the right thing, and they’ve been moving to correct it, working with the Department of Justice, working with everyone involved, with the Archives. So, from my perspective, it’s one of those moments that, obviously, they wish hadn’t happened.”
“And it’s an embarrassment, no doubt about it,” Garamendi said. “Is there more to it? I doubt it, but we’ll find out from the special counsel as he goes about his business.”
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
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