Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet
President Biden’s classified documents palaver. By Chido Nwangwu
On Sunday, January 13, 2023, Republican Representative Jim Jordan, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a tweet that has since gone viral.
The very fast-talking politician knows how to pideon-hole any of his opponents or shall I say, targets. Whatver you consider to be his partisan interets and animus, he knows how to frame the issues and get his social and political base riled up. He tweeted: “Hillary Clinton mishandled classified documents. Joe Biden mishandled classified documents. But the only one who gets his home raided is President Trump— and he didn’t even do anything wrong!”
Only about two weeks ago, the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives. Congressman Jordan (from Ohio) is now the chairman of the influential Judiciary Committee. He’s leading the Republican panel nvestigating the discovery of classified documents at U.S President Joe Biden’s home and office.
Jordan and Louisiana Republican Rep. Mike Johnson on Friday Jamuary 13, 2023, sent a letter to the U.S Attorney General Merrick Garland announcing their probe and immediately requesting documents.
Significantly, the Jordan and Johnson letter was sent one day after Garland named a special counsel, Robert Hur, a Trump appointee to investigate the potential mishandling of classified materials.
The letter stated “We are conducting oversight of the Justice Department’s actions with respect to former Vice President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, including the apparently unauthorized possession of classified material at a Washington, D.C. private office and in the garage of his Wilmington, Delaware residence.”
In the letter they are querying Garland’s decision to appoint a special counsel, arguing that it raises “fundamental oversight questions that the Committee routinely examines…. We expect your complete cooperation with our inquiry.”
One of the perception and actual problems for the Biden White House is what has come almost like every 3 days a new discovery of classified documents are found and announced….
For example, last week’s Monday Richard Sauber, special counsel to Biden, said that “The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden Administration records, including a small number of documents with classified markings.” The materials/documents were first discovered at an office at a University of Pennsylvania bulding in Washington DC. Mr. Biden used that office while he was an honorary professor for the university from 2017 to 2019.
After a couple of days, the Biden White House announced that a second batch of documents had been found in a storage space in the garage at Biden’s residence in Wilmington, Delaware.
Welcome to the replay of some of the theatrics and some cogent questions from the Repubican and Democratic congessional members from the Beghazi hearings and the 2016, Hillary Clinton infamous “private e-mail server” issues while she was U.S Secretary of State.
Joran, a conservative agitator with a high pitch, very loud voice you would have seen 100 times during Congressional hearings does not leave you any speculative room as to the equalization of wrong-doing.
Consequently, as a realistic issue of political positioning and inquiries, let me simply say on these classifiied documents problem, the past has come rushing into Biden’s present and future!
On a comparative note, across Nigeria and other countries in the African continent, how carefully and properly are classified and secret documents handled and kept?
How and why do so many international organizations know more about our governments’ plans and classified info than so many indigenous officials?
•Dr. Chido Nwangwu, author of the forthcoming 2023 book, MLK, Mandela & Achebe: Power, Leadership and Identity., is Founder of the first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper on the internet, USAfricaonline.com, and established USAfrica in 1992 in Houston, Texas. Follow him @Chido247
