On Wednesday, the White House attempted to defuse tensions with reporters over records discovered in President Biden’s private office from his time as vice president.
“This isn’t necessary, Ed. We get along quite well. We don’t need this type of confrontation,” White House media secretary Karine Jean-Pierre remarked at the daily briefing, when reporter Ed O’Keefe started pressing her for further information on the issue.
Jean-Pierre had nothing new to say to the press about the confidential documents discovered in the president’s former office.
“It’s literally in the process of being reviewed right now. As we speak, it is being reviewed, so I will not go any farther. I’m not going to go any farther than what the president stated,” she answered.
Biden stated that he was “surprised” to discover secret documents in his private office space for his University of Pennsylvania think tank in Washington, DC, and that he had no idea what they were about.
“He’s indicated he has no idea what’s in them,” Jean-Pierre explained. “So there is no way for me to discuss the documents if he’s stated that he doesn’t know what’s in them.”
Jean-Pierre gave a stonewall response to the questions of many reporters who asked her when the White House first discovered the documents, which were located only a few days before the midterm elections in 2022.
When asked how Americans could have confidence in the president’s handling of the records, Jean-Pierre responded, “Because his attorneys, his staff did the right thing.”
Reporters also reminded Jean-Pierre of Biden’s commitment to be transparent throughout his administration, questioning why the White House did not say when the president learned about the papers and why the White House delayed several weeks before sharing the facts about the event.
Jean-Pierre contended that the White House had previously been transparent.
“We gave very transparent information,” she added, referring to a statement that came from White House attorneys on the event.
“I know you are going to have a lot of questions, and I get that, but I’m not going to go beyond the procedures,” she explained.
