During Monday’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was questioned on her previous statements that President Biden takes the handling of classified documents “very seriously,” but she was unable to explain how he takes it seriously. Her comments came as mishandled classified documents continue to be found in Biden’s possession.
“Why should the American people believe that this president takes classified materials seriously, and the handling of it?” ABC’s Mary Bruce asked.
Jean-Pierre responded by saying Biden didn’t know the classified documents were in his possession, and then deflected by pointing to the Biden administration’s supposed economic successes.
“As it relates to this ongoing legal matter, I would refer you to my colleagues at the White House counsel,” Jean-Pierre added.
“Why then did it take several searches and the FBI coming in to uncover the full extent of the documents at his house?” Bruce asked again.
“These are questions that have been answered from here,” Jean-Pierre replied.
“You just said that the president said he did not know the documents were there. I’m not actually sure he’s said that that clearly,” Bruce noted.
Jean-Pierre replied, “He said he was surprised. I’m just going to leave that there and I’m going to refer you to the White House counsel’s office. He takes this very seriously, that’s what I want the American people to understand.”
Later on, Jean-Pierre was asked for any signs that Biden was taking his classified document scandal seriously.
“When you and the White House and the president all say the president takes these classified documents very seriously, without commenting on the ongoing legal issue, what will you point us to that would demonstrate that seriousness?” RealClearPolitics reporter Philip Wegmann asked.
Jean-Pierre was unable to answer, saying, “I’m going to really refer you to the White House counsel’s office. I am.”
“You can’t tell us? He continues to say he takes this seriously, and you can’t demonstrate how he takes it seriously?” Wegmann asked.
“I’m going to refer you to the White House counsel’s office and I’m going to refer you to the statements you’ve received from his personal lawyer, I’m going to refer you to the 45 minutes of conversation, of back-and-forth that my colleague had with you last week. He’s about to do another one where you can ask questions about this particular legal matter. Again, that’s where this belongs,” Jean-Pierre responded.
“Again, you’ve seen the statements, you’ve heard from the president a couple of times, you’ve heard from his personal lawyer, you’ve heard from the White House counsel’s office,” she added.