The White House is showing how desperate they are to avoid discussing the massive scandal surrounding President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents — as White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tried to dismiss questions on the issue from a reporter during a Wednesday press briefing.
When reporter Ed O’Keefe pressed Jean-Pierre for details about classified documents found in Biden’s private office from his time as vice president, the press secretary tried to shut him down.
“Ed, we don’t need to have this. We work very well together. We don’t need to have this kind of confrontation,” Jean-Pierre responded.
In fact, the press secretary had absolutely nothing new to share with the press on any further details of the classified documents found in Biden’s vice-presidential office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C.
“It is literally under review right now. As I am talking to you it is under review, so I am not going to get beyond the process. I am not going to get beyond what the president said,” Jean-Pierre said.
Meanwhile, Biden responded to the news on Tuesday by saying that he was “surprised” about the documents being found in his old office, and claiming that he did not know the contents of the classified documents.
“He has said he doesn’t know what is in them,” Jean-Pierre said. “So, there’s no way for me to talk about the documents if he has said he doesn’t know what’s in them.”
"Have you spoken to the president about these [classified] documents and their discovery?"
Karine Jean-Pierre: No pic.twitter.com/AZ14mxQ0CP
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 11, 2023
Throughout the press briefing, Jean-Pierre continued to stonewall multiple reporters about the news, who tried to question her about the timing of the discovery of the documents — which were found just days before the 2022 midterm elections — and when the White House learned about the issue.
When asked how the American people could trust Biden to properly handle classified documents following this news, Jean-Pierre stated: “Because his lawyers, his team did the right thing.”
Reporters also reminded the press secretary about Biden’s promise to bring transparency to the White House, questioning how that promise aligns with the White House’s decision to not discuss when the president learned about the documents being found and their decision to wait several weeks before making the news public.
In response, Jean-Pierre falsely claimed that the White House had already been transparent on the issue.
“We released information that was very transparent,” the press secretary said, referring to a statement from White House lawyers about the issue.
“I know you all are going to have a lot of questions, I get that and I understand that, but I’m not going to go beyond the process,” Jean-Pierre added.
Meanwhile, a second batch of classified documents were found at a second location by Biden’s aides.
