House Intelligence chair: Congress to get Trump, Pence, Biden classified documents assessment

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday that he expects a briefing on the classified documents found in the possession of President Biden, former President Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence this week.

Turner during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” also accused the Biden administration of trying to “change the news” with the briefing from the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down this weekend after flying over the middle of the U.S. 

“The moment this balloon became public, I got a notice not from the administration that I’m going to get a briefing on this balloon, but they have to rush to Congress now to talk to us about Donald Trump’s documents,” Turner said.

“You can see they want to change the news,” he added.  

Turner said the Trump, Biden and Pence documents would be included in the briefing. Turner added that there is no briefing scheduled on the balloon.

Congressional leaders for weeks have been calling on the Biden administration and law enforcement officials to provide more information about the documents to Congress. Figures such as Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) have chastised the Biden administration for what they say is opaqueness on the documents.

Turner argued on Sunday that a briefing on the balloon should happen first, saying the Biden administration needs to understand the urgency of the issue.

“This administration needs to understand that we do have national security urgent matters,” Turner said.