Trump’s allies on the House Judiciary Committee are now calling on the Biden administration to do what former President Donald Trump apparently failed to do: save and turn over sensitive records to another part of the government.
House Republicans have sent letters to senior Biden administration officials demanding they send documents and communications to Congress about the FBI searches Trump residence.
The letters, addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, are signed by 18 Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R- of Ohio
They are asking Garland, Wray and Klain to provide Congress with records about the Aug. 8 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, how a search warrant was obtained, and any communications between the Justice Department and the White House related to the execution of this order.
The White House said last week that it learned of the search through news reports, and Garland said Thursday that he personally approved the warrant search. A Republican on the committee, Rep. Ken Buck, did not sign the letters. A senior Buck staff member declined to comment.
Republicans are also pursuing any communications between the FBI, the Justice Department and the National Archives related to Trump’s presidential records. The letters call for the administration to comply within two weeks.
Republicans currently have no subpoena power, so the letters carry more political than legal weight. But that could change if the GOP takes control of the House after this fall’s midterm elections.
“Please preserve all responsive documents in your possession, custody, or control,” read the letters, which say the FBI’s search of the former president’s compound is a “weaponization of law enforcement resources.” ‘order against his political opponents’.
The Presidential Records Act requires White House records to be released to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). In January, NARA officials recovered 15 boxes of presidential records from Mar-a-Lago, some of which contained classified information.
In July, a certified Trump attorney to researchers that all classified material had been turned over to NARA. But Monday’s search revealed there was more. FBI search teams recovered 11 sets of classified material; some were marked top secret and above. CBS News has learned that this find likely included highly sensitive communications intercepts.
“We will settle for nothing less than your full cooperation with our investigation,” the House Republican wrote, echoing the sentiment of Justice Department investigators probing the former president.
