by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who is expected to become chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee next year, said the panel will investigate classified documents found at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate Trump will not prioritize a number of other probes once the GOP takes control.
“That’s not going to be a priority,” Comer said in an interview with CNN, adding that the committee is “just waiting to see what comes of it.”
The House Oversight and Reform Committee, currently chaired by outgoing Rep. Carolyn Maloney (DN.Y.), has been investigating Trump’s mishandling of presidential records for several months. The investigation is separate from the Justice Department’s investigation into the matter, which made headlines in August when the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago.
Maloney sent a letter to National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) acting archivist Debra Steidel Wall in September, urging the agency to try to obtain “personal certification” from Trump that he had all presidential records removed from him resigned from the White House. She also asked that the group conduct “an urgent review” of the recovered records.
The letter came after reports revealed that Trump’s representatives may have misled investigators regarding his possession of classified documents and after news emerged that there were empty folders for classified materials in his apartment.
In August, Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform Committee drafted a letter to Wall asking about Wall’s role in the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago.
Pressured to believe NARA when it says it doesn’t decide matters based on politics, Comer told CNN, “We’ll have to wait and see.”
“I know the day the National Archives met with Carolyn Maloney was the day they contacted the DOJ about their concerns. So I don’t know,” Comer told the network. “I don’t get involved much in the drama of the last government.”
Comer, currently the senior member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, is expected to take over the presidency next year when Republicans take control of the House of Representatives. Republicans have vowed to conduct a series of inquiries into various issues in the majority.
The list of potential targets includes Hunter Biden – President Biden’s son – and the family’s business dealings, alleged politicization at the Justice Department, the origins of COVID-19, last year’s chaotic pullout from Afghanistan, the surge in migrants on the southern border and the Biden administration policy.
