WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — The new chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability said on Friday the body’s investigation into President Joe Biden will happen, and that subpoenas could come in the next few weeks. The committee also hopes to get additional answers connected to the president’s recent controversy involving the handling of classified materials during his time as vice president.
In an interview with NewsNation, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said the Oversight Committee wants to know “what types” of documents there are and “who had access” to them.
“This is a national security concern,” said Comer. “The fact that they had classified documents improperly stored and in their possession only adds to the urgency of our investigation.”
Instead of attention being focused on a Friday meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House, the Biden administration continued to face questions about the handful of classified documents from his time as vice president that were found at his Delaware home and his former office in Washington, D.C.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday again referred questions on the discovery of the documents to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“What I will say from here is any — any questions that you may have about the review, about the process, I would refer you to the Department of Justice,” said Jean-Pierre. “I would also refer you to my colleagues over at the White House counsel. I’m not going to get into any specifics from here.”
Comer, who now leads the Oversight Committee as the GOP has gained control of the chamber, said he wants to know why documents weren’t publicly disclosed until weeks after the president’s lawyers first discovered them.
Comer also acknowledged the similarities between the investigation into President Biden and the ongoing investigation into the hundreds of classified documents that were recovered from former President Donald Trump’s private estate at Mar-a-Lago.
Despite many members of the GOP downplaying the Trump documents, Comer said he believes similar attention should be paid to Biden’s controversial handling of classified material.
“There are plenty of people investigating Donald Trump, including this new special prosecutor (Jack Smith),” said Comer. “We want to know why we didn’t learn about the fact that Joe Biden had these classified documents earlier.”
An investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents during his time as vice president isn’t the only investigation House Republicans have in store for the president.
Several Republicans have called for investigations into the Biden family’s overseas business dealings and the president’s son, Hunter Biden’s, time on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
“We’re following the money,” said Comer. “And I think the American people are going to be outraged when they realize how much anonymous money has flowed from China directly into the Biden’s back pockets.”
At the time Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma, the company was led by an oligarch who was under investigation for corruption, The New York Times has reported. The newspaper also reported Hunter Biden accepted the board position while his father was serving as vice president.
The president and his family aside, Comer said the committee may also open investigations into the origins of COVID-19.
“We’re pretty certain that (the virus) originated in the lab in Wuhan,” he said. “But (the Biden) administration has done everything to block any type of credible investigation of the origins of COVID-19.
The Chinese government has tightly controlled the dissemination of research on the virus, impeding cooperation with international scientists, according to The Associated Press. A World Health Organization expert group said in a report this year that “key pieces of data” were missing on how the pandemic began and called for a more in-depth investigation.
Comer also said an investigation into security at the U.S.-Mexico border — along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — is on the table.