THE SQUIZ
The White House is taking new steps to manage the damaging classified documents drama that has engulfed US President Joe Biden. Yesterday, Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office (aka the President’s in-house lawyer), fronted a press conference to explain the drip-feed of disclosures. To go back a step, there have been several announcements on bits and pieces, and on Saturday, the White House said Biden’s attorneys found the official records on 4 separate occasions in 3 different places between early November and mid-December. Sams says the way they’re ‘fessing up is down to “respecting the integrity of an ongoing Justice Department investigation“. For Biden’s part, he’s said that he was “surprised” the papers were in his office, garage and library and that he takes the handling of classified documents “very seriously” because of how important their proper management is to national security. 

WHY SO MANY UNFORCED ERRORS? 
Nice/timely tennis reference… It’s a good question, and reports say Biden’s frustrated about how much he’s able to say about it and his team’s handling of what they can say. It’s important because it’s being held up next to the investigation into his predecessor Donald Trump and his possession of classified documents from his time in office. The cases are different. Reports say Biden had about 20 documents he shouldn’t have – Trump had more than 300. Biden willingly turned over the documents once found – Trump didn’t. In both cases, federal prosecutors could recommend criminal charges… But at the moment, it’s a headache for Biden as he hits the second half of his term and the presidential election cycle kicks into gear. That’s the Republicans’ cue to go about making his remaining time in office miserable… 

BUT HE’S THE PRESIDENT – HOW MISERABLE CAN IT GET? 
Very – and one reason is that in November’s midterm elections, Biden’s opponents – the Republicans – won control of the US House of Representatives. You might remember last week, we talked about the trouble the party was having electing a speaker? Well, Kevin McCarthy made it over the line on the 15th try after making deals with Trump-aligned conservatives – including giving them plum committee roles. And from there, they can launch inquiries, investigations, and get up to all sorts of skullduggery… That includes getting up in the grill of Biden’s senior officials and signature policies. And it’s likely to include going after Biden’s son Hunter and his business dealings in an effort to damage the President. Last week, Republicans started making moves in that direction, so get ready for it… 

And to help you do that, this week’s Squiz Shortcut is the Hunter Biden backstory. We cover his colourful personal life, his connection to Ukraine, and what an abandoned laptop has to do with it. Check it out here…