CNN
—
The top House Republican slated to take over the chamber’s investigation into classified documents found at the former president’s Florida estate said it “will not be a priority” in the new Congress.
Rep. Jim Comer of Kentucky, likely the next chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told CNN in a sit-down interview that, “we’re just waiting to see what comes out of that.”
“That will not be a priority,” he added, noting that his team has requested information on the status of the House investigation.
The committee has been conducting its own investigation into former President Donald Trump’s handling of presidential records, separate from the ongoing Justice Department probe that led to the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last month and the seizure of thousands of documents, including some marked classified.
Earlier this year, the committee’s current chairwoman, Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, sent a letter to the National Archives, or NARA, asking for an assessment of whether there are presidential records still unaccounted for and in Trump’s possession, CNN previously reported.
Asked whether he accepts NARA’s insistence that it does not make any decisions based on political views, Comer reiterated that, “we’ll have to wait and see.”
“I know that the day that National Archives met with Carolyn Maloney, was the day that they contacted the DOJ about their concern. So I don’t know,” Comer said. “I don’t get involved in a lot of the drama from the last administration.”
CNN previously reported that Trump’s GOP allies in the House are seeking to turn the tables on the Democratic president – one who defeated their party’s current leading candidate in the last presidential election.
On November 9 – the day after the midterm elections – Comer told CNN he is going to resend a letter to the Treasury Department demanding the agency hand over any suspicious bank activity reports linked to Hunter Biden.
A previous request was rebuffed, but Comer said the department may be more inclined to cooperate now that Republicans are going to be in charge of the House, meaning the GOP will have newfound subpoena power.
