White House reporters pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday about previously disclosing “inaccurate” information about classified documents in President Joe Biden’s possession.
Jean-Pierre said at Friday’s briefing that all the classified documents had been found and sent to the National Archives and Records Administration and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to be investigated. President Joe Biden’s special counsel Robert Sauber announced Saturday that five additional documents were discovered inside his garage in Delaware.
Jean-Pierre told reporters that she repeated the statement put out by the White House counsel’s office at Friday’s briefing, and denied having knowledge of the additional documents.
“On Friday, you stood here, though, and were asked about the documents issued by our counsel 18 times. At that point, the president’s lawyers had found these five additional pages of classified documents, so did you not know on Friday that those documents had been found when you were at the podium or are you being directed by someone to not be forthcoming on this issue?” a reporter asked.
“I have been forthcoming from this podium. What I said yes to is what the statement at the time that we all had,” Jean-Pierre said. “Right? You all had the statement and I was repeating what the counsel was sharing at that time.”
The press secretary vowed to be “prudent” and “consistent” about the documents and to “not interfere” with the investigation being conducted by the Department of Justice. She also assured reporters that the president had “confidence” in the way his team is handling the investigation and will continue to cooperate with the Justice Department. (RELATED: ‘What Is The White House Trying To Hide?’: Peter Doocy Confronts KJP In Feisty Exchange)
“The president has confidence. I can tell you this, that the president and his team rightfully took action when they learned that the documents existed. They reached out to the Archives, they reached out to the Department of Justice. That is the steps, we have been very clear about that,” she said.
CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang asked the press secretary if the White House knew about the five additional documents as of Friday.
“On Friday, did you or did you not know about the additional five documents?” she asked.
“I literally just answered that question … I was very clear. I provided the information that you all had at the time—” Jean-Pierre replied.
“But you know,” Jiang said.
“No, I did not know. I’m saying I had the information which I actually said this … I had the information that you all had at the time and so this is why we are trying to be very prudent here, and we are trying to be very consistent and say this is an ongoing legal process and this is why I say we’re just not going to comment from here,” she answered.
The press secretary further told Jiang that the White House learned about the documents at the same time the information was disclosed to the public. The reporter then questioned why the White House counsel went to Biden’s private home to begin the process of transferring the documents to the DOJ.
“Reach out to the White House counsel’s office,” the press secretary said. “That’s one of the reasons my colleague was on the phone with many of you taking questions today and I’m just going to leave it there.”
NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre point-blank Tuesday if she regrets reporting “incomplete and inaccurate” information.
“Are you upset that you came out to this podium on Friday with incomplete and inaccurate information and are you concerned that it affects your credibility up here?” Keith asked.
“What I’m concerned about is making sure that we do not politically interfere in the Department of Justice, that we continue to be consistent over the last two years and that is continue to refer you all to an ongoing process and I’ll just leave it there,” the press secretary said. “Let’s not forget, there was actually a statement from the counsel’s office that you all had at the same time as well and I’m just not going to go down any rabbit hole here. I’m going to be very consistent, I’m going to be very prudent and again, I’ve been just asked that question, I’ve answered it, it’s been noted — the question — and I’m just going to move on.”
Another reporter addressed the White House counsel’s office spokesman Ian Sams’ statement that Republicans are “faking outrage” over the documents. This argument arose as Republican representatives in the Oversight Committee began investigating the president’s handling of the classified material.
“Why shouldn’t Americans be outraged about classified documents being found in a garage?” NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander asked.
“We have answered questions on this at this podium you’ve heard, as Phil was saying, twice from the president talk about this. He said that he didn’t know, he said that he was surprised and he said that he takes classified information and documents very, very seriously. We’ve heard directly from the president on this issue. Now, anything else, anything beyond that, we’re just not going to talk about,” she said.
“There’s an investigation going on, there’s a legal process here as we’ve been very, very clear about and I will let the White House counsel talk about any specific details about that but we’re going to be prudent here and make sure that we are not interfering in this process,” she continued.
Jean-Pierre then deflected when Alexander repeated his question by saying that Americans are satisfied with the president’s handling of the economy.
“What we do know from polling that we have seen over and over again, from your coverage, from what we hear when the president goes out and talks to the American people, they also care about the economy. They also care about what is the president doing to lower costs, which is why he took historic action in making sure that gas prices went down at the gas pump and we saw that happen by more than a $1.70 … You think about the Inflation Reduction Act, that’s going to lower prescription drug costs, lower medical costs, when you think about that, lower energy costs.”
“So that’s going to be our focus here, we know that’s what the American people truly care about as well and it is very important that we do that work,” she concluded.
The president’s lawyers found 10 classified documents in the Biden Penn Center in November and turned the material over to the National Archives. The counsel discovered more documents with classification markings in his garage Dec. 20 and one additional document Wednesday.
“I went to Wilmington Thursday evening to facilitate providing the document the President’s personal counsel found on Wednesday to the Justice Department. While I was transferring it to the DOJ officials who accompanied me, five additional pages with classification markings were discovered among the material with it, for a total of six pages. The DOJ officials with me immediately took possession of them,” Sauber added.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed special counsel Robert Hur on Thursday to investigate the documents and the alleged mishandling of classified material.