Scoop: National Archives gives new tranche of Biden emails to House GOP
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President Joe Biden. Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images.
The National Archives said this week it turned over nearly 6,000 pages of emails to the House Oversight Committee as part of the GOP-led panel's investigation into President Biden.
Why it matters: Claims of obstruction by the agency — and by the Biden administration more broadly — were central to Republicans' vote to formalize their Biden probe as an impeachment inquiry.
- Republicans have increasingly acknowledged that the investigation has still failed to uncover evidence that could propel a vote to impeach Biden.
Driving the news: In a pair of letters to Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) dated March 26, the National Archives' general counsel Gary Stern said the agency turned over 211 emails totaling 5,860 pages.
- "As we have explained to your staff, we are conducting a rolling notification process to the representatives of the former and incumbent Presidents," Stern wrote.
- The emails cover multiple requests from the panel, including documents in which a pseudonym was used for then-Vice President Biden, drafts of a speech Biden delivered to the Ukrainian legislature in 2015 and any communications with Hunter Biden or his business associates.
By the numbers: The National Archives have publicly released over 20,000 pages of emails related to Hunter Biden and the Biden family and turned over 75,000 more pages of records to the House GOP, a senior House Democratic aide told Axios.
- The aide argued that the National Archives has tried to engage with Republicans' requests in good faith and said the agency even tripled their staff in order to respond to them.
Zoom out: Republicans are souring on the prospect of an impeachment vote as the inquiry has failed to uncover any damning evidence connecting Biden to his son's business dealings.
- Comer himself has signaled that the target of the probe is no longer to impeach Biden, but to prepare criminal referrals upon which a future Trump-led Justice Department could act on.
Go deeper: Comer doubles down on shift away from Biden impeachment
