National Archives claims it wasn’t allowed to announce Biden classified doc discovery, Comer reveals

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said the National Archives had claimed it was not permitted to publicly discuss the discovery of classified materials at various locations once occupied by President Joe Biden, prompting the lawmaker to suggest that the administration had intervened.

Comer met with National Archives general counsel Gary Stern on Tuesday. Prior to the meeting, Comer says he was handed a letter from the Department of Justice indicating that Stern was barred from commenting on the matter.

"Right before the National Archives came in, they handed us a letter from the Department of Justice informing them and us that the general counsel for the National Archives wasn't allowed to say anything about the Biden documents. But we went ahead and we had about a three-plus hour transcribed interview with the general counsel, and what we learned was that there is a double standard here with how Donald Trump was treated versus Joe Biden," Comer said in an appearance on Fox News.

"[T]he general counsel said that he did do press releases, but he was ordered and told they couldn't be published," Comer said. "[T]here are only two people who could have given him those orders, and that is either the Department of Justice with Merrick Garland or the White House with Joe Biden."

The Archives have previously publicly commented on matters pertaining to the investigation of former President Donald Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified documents, a disparity Comer noted.

"[W]hat we learned was that there is a double standard here with how Donald Trump was treated versus Joe Biden," he concluded.