GOP Sens. Johnson, Grassley demand National Archives outline role in Biden doc scandal

Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson and Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley have demanded that the National Archives provide information about its involvement, knowledge and role in the discovery of classified documents at various locations occupied by President Joe Biden after he left the vice presidency.

"We request that NARA provide full transparency regarding its involvement, knowledge and role with respect to the existence of
these classified and unclassified documents," the pair wrote to acting Archivist Debra Wall.

The Republicans observed that their prior request to the National Archives in 2021 seeking documents on the agency's investigation into the Biden family's foreign activities was ignored and that the White House had twice ignored separate, related inquiries.

The pair gave Wall a Feb. 2 deadline to provide them with a timeline of the agency's actions involving the discovery of classified materials and their subsequent communications with the White House, Department of Justice and several other relevant entities.

They further asked for details as to the nature of documents discovered at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, any other known locations in which Biden stored records, any prior instances of Biden's storage of classified materials from his vice presidency of which the Archives were aware, and whether the agency had asked the White House for communications using known Biden pseudonyms.

Traditionally a non-controversial agency within the federal government, the National Archives was thrust into the spotlight following the Aug. 8, 2022 raid on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate by FBI agents who were seeking classified documents the agency had reported missing.

The discovery of classified materials at unsecure locations occupied by Biden has further directed scrutiny at both federal law enforcement and the Archives over concerns about equal handling of both investigations.