The Arizona Republic

US officials offer Congress briefing on classified docs

- Nomaan Merchant, Michael Balsamo and Eric Tucker

WASHINGTON – U.S. officials have offered to brief congressio­nal leaders on their investigat­ion into the classified documents found at former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence as well as President Joe Biden’s Delaware home and former private office, people familiar with the matter said Sunday.

A briefing could come as soon as this week. But it may not meet demands from lawmakers who want to review the documents taken not just from Mar-a-Lago but also from the locations belonging to Biden and the Indiana home of former Vice President Mike Pence.

Six months after federal agents first conducted an unpreceden­ted search of a former president’s home for classified documents, the White House faces bipartisan pressure to share what it found with lawmakers who say they are concerned about the potential damage to national security and intelligen­ce sources. Separate special counsels are investigat­ing the documents found in the possession of Trump and Biden.

Officials have declined to answer most questions in public or private about what they found, citing the ongoing criminal investigat­ions and a separate “risk assessment” of the possible damage to intelligen­ce sources.

Rep. Mike Turner, who heads the House Intelligen­ce Committee, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that the administra­tion notified him it would brief on the documents this week.

“This administra­tion needs to understand we do have national security urgent matters,” said Turner, R-Ohio. He also called on the White House to brief him on the Chinese balloon shot down Saturday.

“What’s interestin­g is that the moment this balloon became public, I got a notice not from the administra­tion that I’m going to get a briefing on this balloon, but they have to rush to Congress now to talk to us about Donald Trump’s documents,” he said, adding that a discussion of Biden and Pence records was expected to be included.

Three people familiar with the matter confirmed a congressio­nal briefing was offered to the “Gang of Eight” – the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate and of both intelligen­ce committees. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligen­ce matters.

Any briefing is not expected to include direct access to the documents that were seized, the people said.

Sens. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, and Marco Rubio, R-Florida, chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligen­ce Committee, asked for that access in a letter last week to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligen­ce Avril Haines.

The director of national intelligen­ce’s office and Department of Justice both declined to comment Sunday.

The Justice Department says roughly 300 documents with classified markings, including at the top-secret level, have been recovered from Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, after being taken there after Trump left the White House.

 ?? DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE VIA USA TODAY NETWORK ?? Six months after federal agents conducted an unpreceden­ted search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home for classified documents, the White House faces bipartisan pressure to share what it found with lawmakers.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE VIA USA TODAY NETWORK Six months after federal agents conducted an unpreceden­ted search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home for classified documents, the White House faces bipartisan pressure to share what it found with lawmakers.

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