(Presidentialwire.com)- During her press briefing with reporters last Tuesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defensively laughed at one of the questions she was asked.
AFT White House correspondent Sebastian Smith asked Jean-Pierre if President Biden, who spent the previous weekend at his Delaware home, was “physically joining in the search” for classified documents.
Rather than respond, Jean-Pierre dismissively laughed at the question, asking, “Are you listening to your … the question that you’re asking me?”
Smith responded by explaining that this is a “serious matter,” adding “Where are these documents?” He asked again if the president was “taking part in the search,” prompting Jean-Pierre to suggest that reporters with specific questions about the matter should speak to her colleagues at the White House Counsel’s office. She said if they have other questions “specific to this,” they could also contact the Justice Department or the Special Counsel.
https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1615430197658152960
Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller confronted Jean-Pierre over her repeated claims the previous week that the search for classified documents had been completed.
An exasperated Jean-Pierre said she would not comment now that there is a “legal process that is happening.” She claimed that the White House has been “very clear” that it wouldn’t comment on legal matters or interfere with the Justice Department.
https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1615426435958640672
ABC News reporter Cecilia Vega asked Jean-Pierre if she knew the previous week that additional classified documents were found when she assured them that the search was complete. Vega followed up by asking if someone in the White House was directing Jean-Pierre “to not be forthcoming on this issue.”
Jean-Pierre snapped that she has been forthcoming. She argued that what she had said the previous week was based on the statement from the White House Counsel’s office.
https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1615427620329426948
Later in the briefing, CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang returned to Cecilia Vega’s questions about the additional documents found on the 12th, prompting Jean-Pierre to snap, “I literally just answered that question.”
Jiang asked how the White House could claim that it is keeping itself separate from the investigation when Biden’s lawyers are the ones searching for the documents.
A frustrated Jean-Pierre argued that Biden’s lawyers are working with the Justice Department and added that reporters should refer their questions to the DOJ. She told the reporters that they could ask her the same questions 100 or 200 times and she would keep saying the same thing.
