Key lawmakers granted access to Biden, Trump and Pence classified documents

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 4/11/2023, 9:57 a.m.
The "Gang of Eight" has been granted the ability to look over the classified documents found in the possession of …
Key lawmakers have been granted the ability to look over the classified documents found in the possession of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. Mandatory Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Originally Published: 11 APR 23 10:16 ET

Updated: 11 APR 23 10:29 ET

By Natasha Bertrand, Lauren Fox and Alayna Treene, CNN

(CNN) -- The "Gang of Eight" has been granted the ability to look over the classified documents found in the possession of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, three sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

The members of the Gang of Eight, which includes the House and Senate leaders from each party as well as the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, are privy to the most sensitive classified information.

For weeks, leaders of the intelligence committees have been pushing for more information about the kinds of documents found, offering harsh criticism for the lack of information they received early on.

A source familiar with the process tells CNN the Gang of Eight began getting access to Biden, Pence and Trump's classified documents "in a rolling production" last week.

The Biden administration is giving the group access to the documents "in tranches" and not all at once, according to the source.

Republican Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, told Fox News this morning, "it is very disappointing that it has taken the government this long to allow the Gang of Eight to have access" to the classified documents.

Punchbowl was first to report that that administration has begun giving the Gang of Eight access to the documents.

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