Congress could move to pass a law requiring presidents to keep visitor logs for their personal residences after classified files were discovered at President Biden’s home, one GOP lawmaker said.
Now that classified documents have been found at the homes of both President Biden and President Trump, Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., said it might be time to strengthen rules about the comings and goings of guests of a president’s home.
‘I think that’s a reasonable demand given the fact that this is stretching beyond the exception,’ he told Fox News. ‘It’s becoming a more commonplace occurrence to see these documents popping up. We have to put protections in place to make sure our national security is protected, and those visitor logs may be the first step in what needs to be done.’
‘These are becoming more than just rare exceptions, and we have to start looking at making sure that national security is protected.’
President Joe Biden’s White House revealed that no public visitor logs were kept at his Wilmington, Delaware residence
On Monday the White House Counsel’s office said there are no visitor logs to be made public.
‘Like every President in decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,’ the office said.
‘But upon taking office, President Biden restored the norm and tradition of keeping White House visitors logs, including publishing them regularly, after the previous administration ended them.’
House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., wrote to White House chief of staff Ron Klain on Sunday demanding access to any visitor logs kept for the Delaware home.
‘Without a list of individuals who have visited his residence, the American people will never know who had access to these highly sensitive documents,’ the Kentucky Republican wrote in his letter.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have said it appears Hunter Biden was living at the Wilmington residence where classified documents were found and expressed concerns about him conducting international business in the presence of secret files.
Last summer Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence was raided to retrieve the files he had not turned over to authorities. Republicans have decried a double standard in the handling of Biden’s mistreatment of classified files and Trump’s while Democrats say it’s a false equivalency because Biden’s team has been cooperating with authorities.
Trump, for his part, said that the locked room where he kept documents in Mar-a-Lago is more secure than Biden’s garage, where five documents were found.
At least six classified documents were found at Biden’s private residence in the upscale neighborhood of Greenville, a wealthy section of Wilmington, Delaware
‘The White House just announced that there are no LOGS or information of any kind on visitors to the Wilmington house and flimsy, unlocked, and unsecured, but now very famous, garage. Maybe they are smarter than we think!’ Trump mused on Truth Social.
‘This is one of seemingly many places where HIGHLY CLASSIFIED documents are stored (in a big pile on the damp floor). Mar-a-Lago is a highly secured facility, with Security Cameras all over the place, and watched over by staff & our great Secret Service. I have INFO on everyone!’ Trump added.
Last week it was revealed that classified files had been found both at Biden’s home in Delaware and at his think tank office in Washington, DC
The Penn-Biden Center was used by Biden as a personal office from about 2017 through when he launched his 2020 campaign.
Timeline of events leading up to Attorney General Merrick Garland appointing Special Counsel Robert Hur to oversee investigation as to the potential mishandling of classified documents
Ten top secret pages were reportedly found there by Biden’s personal lawyers while cleaning out the office. Six so far have been found in his Wilmington-area home – one in the house and five in the garge.
The Justice Department has for months been looking into whether Biden mishandled the documents after leaving the vice presidency. That investigation only came to light last week.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to oversee Biden’s handling of classified documents after the papers dated from his vice presidency were first discovered on November 2, 2022 at the Penn Biden Center.
Garland had appointed a special counsel to oversee Trump investigations – including the handling of classified files – in November.
The President has pledged to take the matter ‘seriously’ and cooperate with the National Archives and Justice Department every step of the way.
