'Let me unconfuse you': Condescending White House press secretary says not telling the public about new classified documents found at Biden's home and garage was 'the right thing to do'
White House press secretary defended Biden on charges of hypocrisy
By Emily Goodin
Daily Mail
January 12, 2023
Karine Jean-Pierre was grilled in
her press briefing on why the White House waited nearly a month to
reveal there were additional classified documents in Joe Biden's
personal possession
Karine Jean-Pierre was forced to defend Joe Biden against charges of hypocrisy on Thursday as she was grilled in her press briefing on why the White House waited nearly a month to reveal there were additional classified documents in the president's private possession.
The White House press secretary was specifically interrogated - for the majority of her time at the podium - about Biden's promise to have a transparent administration in the wake of new details provided by the Justice Department in its probe of the president's classified cache.
Attorney General Merrick Garland revealed on Thursday that Biden's personal lawyer informed the Justice Department on December 20th that they had found classified documents in his garage at his Wilmington home.
The White House had not revealed that information until Thursday - a few hours before Garland announced he was appointing a special counsel to investigate the matter.
It had plenty of opportunities - including when White House counsel Richard Sauber put out a statement on Monday about classified documents dating back to Biden's time as vice president being discovered at the office of his D.C. think tank.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate classified documents in Biden's possession
Additionally, Biden, Jean-Pierre and other officials had been asked in the proceeding days about the matter, including if there were other classified documents in the president's personal possession.
But neither the president, Jean-Pierre nor other officials disclosed the Wilmington documents.
Jean-Pierre said it was because Biden's personal lawyers were in the process of conducting a review of other locations where classified documents might be stored and that review was not completed until Wednesday night.
'There was a process happening that was currently ongoing,' she said.
'This was the right thing to do,' she noted.
She also argued the administration had been transparent because it disclosed the matter to the National Archives and the Justice Department immediately after the documents were discovered.
'We have been transparent here. That is why the minute that his lawyers found those documents, they reported it. They reached out to the Archives and the Department of Justice, and they did that voluntarily, and they were not compelled to do it. They did it voluntarily,' she emphasized.
Garland announced Thursday afternoon he was naming Robert K. Hur, a former federal prosecutor appointed to that position by Donald Trump, as special counsel in the case.
And, in his short statement, Garland revealed a detailed timeline of when the classified documents were originally discovered and how the initial Justice Department investigation began.
In total, there have been three discoveries of classified materials - at the Penn-Biden Center, a think tank in Washington, D.C.; in Biden's garage at his Wilmington, Del., home; and an additional discovery at Biden's Wilmington home.
Garland said the National Archives informed the DoJ of the first discovery of documents on Nov. 4th and the FBI began an investigation five days later.
On Nov. 14th, Garland assigned the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John Lausch, to determine if a special counsel was needed.
On Dec. 20th, Biden's personal attorney told Lausch that additional files were found in Biden's Wilmington garage.
On Jan. 9, the White House publicly announces classified documents from Biden's time as vice president found at the office of his D.C. think tank - but made no mention of the documents found in the Wilmington garage.
On Thursday, Jan. 12, the president's personal attorney informed Lausch that an additional document was discovered at Biden's Wilmington home.
The same day White House publicly announces additional classified documents were found in Biden's Wilmington home.
Jean-Pierre was asked over and over again, by at least nine different reporters, why the December 20th discovery wasn't disclosed immediately or at least with the other disclosure.
She had been asked the previous day - 24 hours before the announcement that there were more classified material discovered - if there were any classified documents in Biden's Wilmington home. She responded: 'I'm just not going to speak to this. I'm going to let the process continue. It's an ongoing process.'
The White House was already under fire for waiting almost two months to disclose that classified documents were found on Nov. 2nd at Biden's think tank office as his lawyers packed it up in preparation for it to be closed.
Jean-Pierre also was asked why the White House argued it was being transparent because it informed a federal agency but did not disclose the matter publicly to the American people.
CNN's Phi Mattingly noted that 'the review was underway when the President spoke about the first set of documents - you're now saying that you didn't talk about the second set of documents discovered almost a month prior? Because the review was underway. I don't understand. It doesn't make any sense. I think it was underway the entire time. The only difference was that reporters had information on the first set of documents.'
The White House was forced to admit on Monday - in the wake of a report from CBS News - that there were classified documents found at the D.C. office housing the think tank Biden founded after leaving the vice presidency.
'Well, let me unconfuse you for a second Phil,' Jean-Pierre responded. 'Look, we're trying to do this by the book. And I said yesterday this was under review by the Department of Justice.'
She added: 'I'm telling you that there's a process. I just laid out what the process is. And I'm telling you that we're trying to do this by the book, and it was an ongoing process. I'm not going to get beyond that. That is how this works.'
CBS Ed O'Keefe grilled her repeatedly on the transparency issue. On Biden's first day in the White House, his then-press secretary Jen Psaki promised that the president plans to 'bring transparency and truth back to the government to share the truth, even when it's hard to hear.'
O'Keefe asked about that vow.
'When you talk about we're being transparent. Who's we and what is the definition of transparent in this case? Is it the lawyers being transparent legally, for the Archives and the Justice Department, or is it the White House at large being transparent with the general public?,' he said.
Jean-Pierre didn't answer directly, repeating her often-used phrase that the president and White House staff take the matter of classified documents 'seriously.'
She also noted that Richard Sauber, the White House special counsel, has made statements on the matter.
'They haven't laid out everything Karine and you know it,' O'Keefe responded.
She responded that she couldn't speak in more detail because of the Justice Department investigation.
'I can't talk about this right because the Department of Justice is reviewing it. There is a review happening Ed right now and you know this,' she said.
And she wouldn't commit to bringing White House Counsel Richard Sauber come to the press room to answer questions about the situation.
'You need to acknowledge then there's going to be a limit and transparency, public non legal transparency, and what can be shared and set by this way,' O'Keefe said.
'I disagree. There has not been a limit of transparency,' Jean-Pierre responded. 'I disagree with you on that.'
The White House press secretary also noted any further disclosures would come from the Justice Department.
'There's an ongoing process and you heard directly from the Attorney General today and that is the process. That is how this is going to go. It is not going to come from here for me at this podium. It is going to come from the Department of Justice.'
NBC's Kristen Welker asked if the White House holding onto the information for months 'undercuts the president's promise of being transparent?'
'But here's the thing, they were transparent. There was transparency in doing what you're supposed to do when these when these items were discovered, Jean-Pierre argued.
'Not with the American people,' Welker responded.
The White House over the past few days has faced dozens of questions on why the discoveries of classified documents have not been revealed until now and who was handling them.
Republicans, in particular, have hammered the administration for not disclosing the information before the midterm election. The first set of documents were found five days before voters went to the polls.
Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday that he was 'cooperating fully and completely' with a Justice Department investigation as to how and why classified information and government records were improperly stored.
Peter Doocy of Fox News asked the president how he could keep 'classified materials [in his garage] next to your Corvette. What were you thinking?' – a reference to his classic 1967 Stingray which his son, Hunter, had rebuilt for him as a Christmas present.
'By the way, my Corvette's in locked garage, okay? It's not like it's sitting out in the street,' Biden shot back. He confirmed the documents were kept in a locked garage, saying, 'Yes - as well as my Corvette.'
'People know I take classified documents,' classified materials seriously,' Biden said, beginning to read 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.'
The tense back and forth comes after Biden dodged questions during a trip to Mexico about whether he mishandled documents.
He said lawyers 'discovered a small number of documents with classified markings in storage areas and file cabinets in my home and my - my personal library.'
'The Department of Justice was immediately notified, he said. 'We're going to see all this unfold, I'm confident ...' he said. Biden's voice trailed off, leading to a chorus of shouted questions. 'Thank you very much,' he concluded.
Then,
amid the cacophony of questions, he pointed to the back of the
auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building where he was
speaking. 'Hey how you doing? Good to see you!' he yelled, then walked
off stage.
2 comments:
Biden's spokeshole is a horrible press secretary, but she is unfailingly loyal and will throw out any pile of bullshit that her boss and his handlers want her too. As a gay black female she is almost untouchable. If it wasn't for her binder she would just stand there and stammer.
How would like to be a U.S. Spy on assignment while classified files were turning up in people's homes? I didn't know the Vice-president was authorized to remove classified documents.
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