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The White House went on the offensive Tuesday and demanded Kevin McCarthy disclose the ‘secret deals’ he made with conservatives as the war between President Joe Biden and the Republicans heats up.
As House Republicans demanded Biden release more information about the classified documents found in his Wilmington home – including visitor logs to his private Delaware resident – the administration is returning fire.
‘Will House Republicans come clean and transparently disclose the secret deals Kevin McCarthy made with the extreme MAGA members of his caucus to get their support for Speaker?’ asked Ian Sams, spokesman for Biden’s White House counsel office.
Biden, meanwhile, stayed mum in the face of questions on Tuesday about the documents, smiling as reporters shouted questions at him.
President Joe Biden didn’t answer questions on Tuesday about the classified documents
The president didn’t answer questions from reporters – including one on whether he would speak with special counsel Robert Hur – as he met in the Oval Office with Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Biden simply sat in silence as White House staff led shouting members of the press out of the room.
The White House, meanwhile, ratcheted up its battle with the GOP, calling on McCarthy to reveal the deals he made to win over hard-line conservatives to become Speaker of the House.
It took McCarthy 15 ballots to gain enough support from his own party to become Speaker. There have been reports on the deals he cut – including a pledge that would allow only one lawmaker to issue a Speaker recall – but has never outlined all the concessions he made.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates slammed the GOP for deals made on abortion and other issues. He led the call in demanding more transparency from the Republicans.
‘What other hidden bargains did Speaker McCarthy make behind closed doors with the most extreme, ultra MAGA members of the House Republican conference? The American people have a right to know – now – which is why we are calling on him to make every single one of them public immediately,’ he said in a statement.
McCarthy has said he made no formal agreements to win the votes he needed, but conservatives said they were promised certain concessions.
Some Republicans have even said they aren’t sure of all that McCarthy promised to the right-wing of the party.
McCarthy is already in battle mode with the White House, demanding cuts to government spending instead of increasing the debt limit – a priority for conservatives.
The White House has expected to wage battle with House Republicans now that they have the majority in that chamber.
The GOP has already vowed to investigate the president, his family and his administration.
They have also vowed to look into the classified documents found at Biden’s now-shuttered think tank in Washington DC and his Wilmington home.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican of Kentucky, sent a letter to Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain on Sunday demanding access to any visitor logs kept for the Delaware home.
‘Without a list of individuals who have visited his residence, the American people will never know who had access to these highly sensitive documents,’ he wrote.
The White House has said there are no visitor logs as it is a private home.
And, on Tuesday, Sams held a briefing call with reporters to slam Republicans’ probes.
‘Their outrage is all pure theater,’ he said.
He would not commit to the White House cooperating with the GOP requests for documents and other information.
‘We’re limited in what we can say during an ongoing DOJ inquiry,’ he said, referring to the special counsel’s inquiry.
‘We’ll make a determination about our response in due course, but of course, we’re gonna call it out when we see rampant hypocrisy, that that shows a total lack of credibility when it comes to these requests,’ he noted.
Sams, who will be the point person to answer questions on any Biden scandals, also wouldn’t say if Biden would answer questions from Hur.
‘We’re not going to get ahead of that process with the Special Counsel and speculate on what they may or may not want or ask for,’ he said.
The White House has demanded Kevin McCarthy reveal the deal he made with hardline conservatives to become Speaker
Timeline of events leading up to Attorney General Merrick Garland appointing Special Counsel Robert Hur to oversee investigation as to the potential mishandling of classified documents
Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware
On Saturday, the White House revealed a fourth tranche of documents were found – again at Biden’s Wilmington home.
The White House has faced repeated questions over its lack of transparency about when the documents were discovered. They waited about two months – until well past the November midterm election – to announce documents found at Biden’s DC think tank before voters went to the polls.
The counsel’s office then made two more announcements – regarding documents found at Biden’s garage in his Wilmington home and then a third document found in a room at that house.
On Saturday, the administration announced five more pages containing classified information were found at Biden’s Wilmington home.
White House Counsel Richard Sauber said that because he has security clearance, and Biden’s personal lawyers don’t, he had gone to the president’s home to examine other papers there.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced last week he was appointing a special counsel to investigate the matter.
Biden previously said he and his staff would cooperate with the investigation. He expressed surprise to discover he had classified documents dating back to when he served as Barack Obama’s vice president.
‘People know I take classified documents,’ classified materials seriously,’ Biden said last week, reading from a prepared statement.
‘I’m going to get a chance to speak on this soon, God willing,’ he added, as reporters shouted questions. ‘We’re going to see all this unfold.’
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