On Tuesday, Democrat Rep. John Garamendi (CA) said the Department of Justice has been “very reluctant” to provide information to Congress about their investigation into Democrat President Joe Biden’s classified document scandal. Garamendi’s comments echo those of reporters and journalists who have criticized the Biden administration’s “information blackout” on the subject.
Garamendi made the comments during an interview with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto.
“I’m wondering what you make of what Senator Wyden and other prominent Democrats and Republicans have been saying about how the administration or maybe, through the Justice Department itself, is deciding who gets to see what and when,” Cavuto said of the investigation.
Garamendi initially deflected by pointing to the federal investigation into former President Donald Trump’s mishandling of classified documents.
Garamendi later explained that the Department of Justice is “very reluctant in that process to share with the Congress — this is not new, this has been going on as — I guess forever — until that investigation either proves that there was or was not a criminal act.”
“But isn’t that a committee’s right, whether it’s in the Senate, sir, or in the House, these two, that they have to sort of take a backseat to whatever decision Justice will make?” Cavuto noted. “Obviously, Senator Warner wasn’t having it. Senator Wyden wasn’t having it. A host of other key players, from Marco Rubio to scores of Republicans weren’t having it.”
“Do you think that this setup, where we get information at the Justice Department’s discretion, is sound? A lot of your colleagues don’t think it is,” Cavuto asked.
“Well, first of all, it certainly is frustrating, and it’s not new,” Garamendi replied. “In the years I have been here, which is not nearly as many as the senators of whom you’re talking about, this is an ongoing, an ongoing issue between the Justice Department involved in an investigation that may very well be a criminal investigation.”
“It’s frustrating, in that we’re looking at the oversight issues,” he continued. “I think, with regard to the Senate, what they would like to have is this specific classified documents, so that they can then understand the risk to our national security. I would think that there’s a way in which the department, the Justice Department, could make those specific documents available in a classified setting to the Senate committee and to the House committees as to exactly what was at risk here.”
