Rep. Hank Johnson suggests classified documents ‘planted’ in Biden office

A Democratic lawmaker is planting seeds of suspicion about President Biden’s classified documents.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who once worried Guam could sink from overpopulation, floated a conspiracy theory on Thursday that sensitive papers found at Biden’s Delaware home and an office he used at a Washington, DC, think tank could have been “planted.”

Johnson, 68, told Fox News he was “suspicious” that the 80-year-old president’s lawyers “conveniently” discovered the material from his days as vice president during the Obama administration.

“Alleged classified documents showing up allegedly in the possession of Joseph Biden… I’m suspicious of the timing of it,” said Johnson, using the words “alleged” and “allegedly” despite the White House and Biden admitting that some of the papers found were classified and discovered in his garage, personal library, and office at the Penn Biden Center. 

“I’m also aware of the fact that things can be planted on people, places and things can be planted … things can be planted in places and then discovered conveniently,” Johnson went on, suggesting the possibility of an unprecedented break-in taking place at the president’s own home in an effort to embarrass him and his administration and potentially land him in legal trouble.

“That may be what has occurred here. I’m not ruling that out. But I’m open in terms of the investigation needs to be investigated,” Johnson recklessly speculated. 

The Georgia Democrat has a history of making bizarre comments and wild insinuations.

During a 2010 House Armed Services Committee meeting, Johnson questioned now-retired Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, about the effects of US troops on the island of Guam.

“My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize,” a straight-faced Johnson asked the commander, who assured the congressman that that wasn’t a concern. 

In 2019, Johnson compared then-President Donald Trump to Hitler during a speech to the NAACP.

“Hitler was accepting of violence towards the achievement of political objectives; Trump encouraged violence against protesters at his rallies. And his messaging about Charlottesville that there was bad people on both sides sent a powerful message of approval to the far right racists in America,” Johnson said.

“Americans, particularly black Americans, can’t afford to make that same mistake about the harm that could be done by a man named Hitler or a man named Trump,” he added.

On Thursday, Johnson went on to praise Attorney General Merrick Garland for appointing former Maryland US Attorney Robert Hur as a special counsel to investigate how the documents ended up at Biden’s namesake think tank and next to his Corvette in Delaware. 

“It is refreshing to see the Department of Justice restored from its politicization during the Trump years, and I applaud Attorney General Garland for acting swiftly in appointing a special counsel to investigate the Biden document discoveries,” Johnson told Fox News.

“Based on what we know, there is a big difference between the Trump and Biden document cases,” he added. “There remains much we don’t know about the Biden document discoveries, and it’s too early to reach any conclusions. I am confident, however, that the process has begun to ensure that we get to the truth, and that justice will be done.”