Kaelan Deese of the Washington Examiner writes about one factor looming over the upcoming presidential transition.
President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents during his transition out of office could draw scrutiny, given the Justice Department’s pursuit of his predecessor over documents taken during the last outgoing transition and his own history of mishandling classified material.
Although Biden earlier this year announced the formation of the Presidential Records Transition Task Force to address what his administration described as a long-standing problem of mishandling classified documents during transitions, the effort has been scantly discussed since its formation.
Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project Director Mike Howell told the Washington Examiner more may need to be done in order to ensure Biden’s own outgoing transition and return of classified information is conducted properly.
Republicans in Congress “should at least raise the issue to the National Archives and Records Administration, call the archivist to testify, is what I would do,” Howell said.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Biden’s handling of sensitive material as he leaves the White House should be carefully watched.
“President Biden willfully retained classified documents from his time as vice president and as a senator and jeopardized our national security as a result,” Comer told the Washington Examiner. “As President Biden prepares to leave office, Americans must have confidence that he will not willfully retain classified documents again. We fully expect those responsible for handling presidential records to closely monitor the presidential transition and ensure President Biden follows the law.”
As Trump and Biden’s high-profile scandals involving classified documents unfolded over the past two years, concerns about the overall system for handling classified materials grew, prompting Biden to create the task force to ensure an orderly and proper transition.Biden “is taking action to help strengthen future transitions to better prevent classified documents from being accidentally packed up and removed from the government, like we have seen with officials from every administration for decades,” White House counsel Ian Sams said in February.
