Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for the White House, stated unequivocally on Thursday that “no one” in the White House had received a briefing on the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago earlier this month that led to the confiscation of sensitive materials.
Following the revelation of a letter demonstrating the back and forth between the country’s archivist and Trump representatives that addressed the White House counsel’s office, President Joe Biden’s own vigorous statement on the subject, she made her comment.
This spring’s conversation demonstrated the White House’s deference to the archives about former President Donald Trump’s claims of privilege regarding the data the FBI requested access to, but it also showed White House awareness of a dispute over materials Trump had willingly returned.
When CNN host Don Lemon directly questioned her about “who in the White House knew about the probe,” she responded in the negative.
Let me clarify for a moment that they are two distinct things. Look, we have been quite clear about this when it comes to the investigation and search that we recently witnessed and that you all have reported on.
President wasn’t briefed, though. The White House staff was not briefed. She claimed, “We weren’t briefed on the probe.
President Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday that he was never informed about the FBI raid, which has sparked outrage from Republicans as well as from Trump and his friends.
I was not given any prior warning. None. Zero. Not even close,’ Biden emphasised, making the number zero with his palm. Following numerous public demands by Trump that investigators look into his political opponents, Jean-Pierre repeatedly brought up Biden’s commitment to restore the independence of the Justice Department.
‘Restore the independence of the Department of Justice,’ she claimed Biden had pledged.
She remarked, “We don’t comment, we don’t get involved, and we don’t get briefed.”
When questioned if the White House was aware that the documents were at Mar-a-Lago, she avoided giving a direct response and instead focused on the search.
“What we did was postpone. She responded to Lemon’s question, “Who are we?” by saying, “We deferred to the Department of Justice.”
I’m going to let the letter speak for itself; I’ll leave it at that,” she declared.
The White House “referred that to the national archives,” she said, adding that she didn’t have any specific names or information.
She was referring to the choice made after Trump delivered 15 boxes of records from Mar-a-Lago after receiving months’ worth of demands from the government to defer to the archivist on privilege issues.
In a letter dated May 2021 to Trump’s attorney Evan Corcoran, the acting head of the National Archives describes the FBI’s efforts to evaluate 15 boxes of documents that Trump had allowed to be returned from the exclusive club where he resides.
Invoking executive privilege in a protective manner was what Trump was attempting to do.
Debra Steidel Wall, acting archivist of the United States, wrote that the current president was the only one who could claim privilege. She also disclosed correspondence with the White House counsel’s office regarding the situation.
According to the Counsel to the President, President Biden defers to my judgement in this case after consulting with the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, she wrote.
The acrimonious exchange takes place on the same day that Judge Bruce Reinhart approved a redacted copy of the affidavit used to support the former President’s search warrant from the Justice Department.
After media outlets pushed for its publication, he decided to disclose it on Friday afternoon. Prosecutors objected, claiming that doing so may jeopardise their investigation or result in witness harassment.
All observers are eager to see what the document reveals about what the government has determined in its probable Espionage Act and obstruction probe and what the FBI was seeking for, despite the fact that it is expected to be heavily blacked.
Without providing any proof that Biden was aware of the raid, Trump went on a tirade online on his Truth Social platform, dismissing assertions that he didn’t.
“Joe Biden said he was unaware of the Mar-a-Lago Break-In, the worst political assassination in American history. Who among us actually believes this? Trump penned a letter.
Daughter-in-law On Thursday morning, Lara Trump accused Biden of lying after the president claimed to have had “zero” advance knowledge of the FBI’s unauthorised investigation of Mar-a-Lago.
She stated on Fox & Friends, “I don’t think anyone believes Joe Biden.” We are aware that that is a falsehood, she said.