The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday declined to give further details about the investigation opened after the discovery of classified documents in private rooms of U.S. President Joe Biden, after the end of his term as vice president of Barack Obama.
According to the federal body to the request, submitted by the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, which has a majority of the Republican Party, providing more details about the investigation could lead to disclose information «central» to the case, as reported by ‘The Hill’.
The response comes after the Lower House panel requested access to all documents and communications related to the investigation, including correspondence with Biden’s lawyers and those related to the appointment of an expert to analyze the degree of confidentiality of such documents.
«Your letter also requests non-public information that is critical to the special prosecutor’s ongoing investigation. The DOJ’s longstanding policy is to maintain the confidentiality of such information with respect to open matters,» the DOJ has related in a letter obtained by the aforementioned newspaper.
«Disclosures to Congress about active investigations run the risk of jeopardizing those investigations and creating the appearance that Congress may be exerting inappropriate political pressure or attempting to influence the Department’s decisions in certain cases,» the government agency added.
Attorney General Merrick Garland in early January appointed Robert Hur as a judge to serve as an expert witness in an investigation into classified records found in an office Biden used after his tenure in the administration, as well as in his home and garage in the state of Delaware.
Garland previously appointed an expert witness to review the mishandling of classified records recovered by FBI agents from former President Donald Trump’s Florida home this summer.
Meanwhile, from the Republican Party have criticized the «lack of cooperation» of the Justice Department, pointing out a «double standard» of the institution since one of the documents would involve the Government of China.
In this regard, Republicans have pointed to a large amount of donations from China to the University of Pennsylvania, where Biden was an honorary professor through his office at the Penn Biden Center. However, the educational center has denied the accusations.
«The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement was founded on the principle that a democratic, open, secure, tolerant, tolerant and interconnected world benefits all Americans (…) It is important to reiterate that the Penn Biden Center has never solicited or received gifts from any Chinese or foreign entity,» a spokesperson said in statements reported by CBS.
Biden’s lawyers found two batches of documents, the first one on November 2, six days before the mid-term congressional elections, at the Penn Biden Center; while the second one was found on December 20 in a garage of the president at his home in Delaware.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
