![CBS News' White House correspondent Steve Portnoy tripped up press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday when he asked her to comment on news that former Vice President Mike Pence had classified documents in his private residency. [Screenshot Twitter Aaron Rupar]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Screenshot-2023-01-24-at-4.59.35-PM-e1674597629586.png "CBS News' White House correspondent Steve Portnoy tripped up press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday when he asked her to comment on news that former Vice President Mike Pence had classified documents in his private residency. [Screenshot Twitter Aaron Rupar]")
CBS News’ White House correspondent Steve Portnoy tripped up press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday when he asked her to comment on news that former Vice President Mike Pence had classified documents in his private residency.
Pence’s team contacted the acting director of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on Jan. 18 requesting assistance to collect and transfer a “small number of classified documents bearing classifications markings.”
Pence “engaged outside counsel” to look at the documents.
President Joe Biden’s personal lawyers found classified documents at the Penn Biden Center on Nov. 2 and the president’s Delaware home on Dec. 20, Jan. 11, Jan. 12 and Jan. 20. (RELATED: Doocy Asks Jean-Pierre Point-Blank If Biden Is Involved In A ‘Cover-Up’)
“It being the White House’s position for the last several weeks that the president’s legal team did the right thing,” Portnoy asked, “is is the initial observation of the White House that Pence’s legal team did the right thing?”
“That’s not for me to comment on from here,” Jean-Pierre said. “I would refer you to the Department of Justice.”
“One of the things that the Pence team seems to have done in the last week is make public disclosure of the circumstance and advise NARA, but also advised Congress and now the public. Any reflections by, among the communications and press staff here as to how the Pence team handled it versus how you guys handled it?” he pressed.
Steven Portnoy suggests Pence’s handling of classified documents was better than Biden’s because Pence went public right away pic.twitter.com/lUJoPbRJvI
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 24, 2023
“And Steve, I understand your question and I hear it. We’ve answered your question in many different variations. I’m just not – I don’t have anything else to share from here. If you have any more specifics or details about this, about the ongoing legal matter, I would refer you to the Department of Justice. Anything else? I would refer to the White House Counsel’s office.”
As Jean-Pierre tapered off the Daily Caller’s Diana Glebova was heard shouting “you knew about it for two months.”