Revealed: FBI Searched Penn Biden Center in November

And … we’re only finding this out Now? All the best! “transparency” that the White House keeps claiming in Joe Biden’s classified-material scandal.

CBS News Reports that the FBI conducted its own search of the Penn Biden Center in mid-November after Biden’s attorneys found the data stored illegally there. Their sources claim that Biden and his team cooperated and that a search warrant didn’t get issued, but that late revelation once again raises the question of what else the White House hasn’t disclosed.

For instance, whether the FBI found some of the material rather than Biden’s attorneys:

Two sources close to the investigation claim that the FBI searched the Penn Biden Center offices during November after the lawyers for President Biden found around 10 documents classified there. on Nov. 2. The material originated from Mr. Biden’s time as vice president.

It is unclear whether FBI personnel discovered any additional classified material or presidential material during their mid-November sweep.

This raises another issue. This is a question that no one has fully answered. Why? Biden’s attorneys were parsing through the PBC files when they found the material. David Harsanyi questions whether the National Archives or Department of Justice were responsible for the opening of these files. The second point is more controversial.

Biden’s lawyers weren’t just innocently putting boxes together for a move and accidentally stepping on classified documents. An agency or law enforcement might have requested the missing document. Then, Biden’s team began. “cooperating.” https://t.co/pQRTYIQEPh

— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) January 31, 2023

It will be fascinating for us to discover what the feds were searching for. If we find out.

— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) January 31, 2023

I couldn’t disagree on the mitigation motive more strongly. Full disclosure upfront would have been the best, but if that fails, disclosure at the time CBS News reported the original story. This is what they are doing. They are making it look dishonest and trying to force them to change their story over several news cycles. Worst This is a possible strategy for political use. Particularly for a president insisting on taking classified-material security “very seriously.”

The timing doesn’t necessarily mean that the feds initiated this sequence by figuring out that Biden had taken classified material. It does raise a serious question about the DoJ’s role in this now, however. If the FBI needs to conduct a search of a sitting president’s files in relation to potential criminal conduct, that should Require notification of the relevant congressional committees — Judiciary especially, but also the committees that oversee the type of classified data involved.

This timeline was made public by a leak. Did the FBI/DoJ not notify Congress at all? If so, Why? It was not. Who made that call?

CBS also provides an inventory — for now, anyway:

In all, federal authorities have recovered between 25 and 30 documents marked classified from the office space and Mr. Biden’s Wilmington home. The material includes classified items and other records from Mr. Biden’s vice presidential and Senate days. Some documents found at  the Penn Biden Center were labeled top secret.

This won’t help Biden fight off Congress. Even before this leak was made, Senate Democrats had Biden has made it difficult to maintain a good relationship with the people. In this scandal:

The Justice Department informed Sens. Marco Rubio, R.Fla. and Mark Warner (D-Va.) were informed by the Justice Department that they were “working” How to get them “information that will satisfy the Committee’s responsibilities,” However, senators seem not to be satisfied.

“I appreciate the communication. But the subject of the communication doesn’t give me clarity on how and when we’re going to be able to fulfill our obligation,” Warner spoke to Punchbowl News.

Fellow Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., described the Justice Department’s position as a “stonewall,” Punchbowl: Tell Punchbowl! “a complete non-starter.”

“Just from a counter-intelligence standpoint — one of the most important aspects of national security — you’ve got to be able to see the documents,” Wyden said. “This is not a close call.”

It is likely that more Senate Democrats will demand this revelation. Real transparency — and the rest of us to wonder how much more the White House is still hiding.