Thursday’s White House press conference was as contentious as you would’ve imagined after the announcement that President Joe Biden kept classified documents in the garage at his home in Delaware. The reckless disregard for America’s national security by carelessly leaving classified documents in three different places was such a big story that even the leftist media couldn’t hide it from their viewers and readers.
First out of the gate was Chris Megerian from the Associated Press who asked: “is the President willing to be interviewed by federal investigators about his handling of classified documents?” White House press secretary and diversity hire Karine Jean-Pierre was once again unprepared for any substantive question posed to her: “I’m just not going to get into hypotheticals,” she responded.
Yet Megerian didn’t back down. “It’s not a hypothetical question. There’s an investigation ongoing. Will the President speak to investigators?” he asked.
No matter how many times she’s asked a question, Jean-Pierre proves she just isn’t cut out for the job. After getting another shot at answering the question, Jean-Pierre replied: “You’re asking me about something in the future, and I am telling you that I’m not going to get ahead of what the Department of Justice is going to decide.”
Megerian moved on to another angle by noting that “this is the kind of thing that can cause government employees to lose a security clearance. This is a serious matter, as the White House has said.”
“Was the President sloppy in his handling of classified material if there are multiple locations where classified documents are being found?” he asked.
Jean-Pierre simply read a statement from White House Counsel Richard Sauber who said, “We are confident that their thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the President and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake.”
Later on in the briefing, things got much more heated when CBS’s Ed O’Keefe grilled Jean-Pierre on the administration’s complete lack of transparency:
The first set of documents were found in November at the Penn Biden Center here in Washington, but why did it take until yesterday and until this morning, apparently, for whoever it was to inform Robert [sic] Lausch that that final document was found? Was that because there were press reports earlier this week — And the hope was that nobody would find out?
In response, she claimed “we did this by the book” and that “the moment that the lawyers discovered that the papers were there, or the documents were there, they reached out to the Archives, they reached out to [the] Department of Justice.”
O’Keefe wasn’t done. He laid into Jean-Pierre over the lack of transparency: “You talk about we are being transparent. Who is we? And what is the definition of transparent in this case?”
She once again repeated how “we take this very seriously” and “the President takes this very seriously.”
Jean-Pierre claimed that they’ve “been transparent in this as well is that the White House Counsel has laid out in detail.” Before she could even finish her rambling incoherent answer, O’Keefe shot back that “they haven’t laid out everything, Karine, and you know that.”
The following heated back and forth took place following O’Keefe’s stern response (click expand):
JEAN-PIERRE: First of all, I can’t talk about this — right? — because it is — the Department of Justice is reviewing it. There is a review happening, Ed. Right? You know this. We just heard from the Attorney General. There is a review. I am limited in what I can say to this.
O’KEEFE: Then could Richard Sauber perhaps come here or Stuart Delery come here?
JEAN-PIERRE: I think you should — I think you should reach out to the White House Counsel.
O’KEEFE: We’re reaching out on a constant basis —
JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. And —
O’KEEFE:— but why not have them come here, to the room —
JEAN-PIERRE: Okay, I am saying to you —
O’KEEFE:— to take questions?
JEAN-PIERRE: —that we have put out lengthy statements. And you can reach out to them, as you all have been doing. And I will leave it there. Go ahead.
O’KEEFE: But why are they subjecting you to this, Karine, then?
JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Justin.
O’KEEFE: Why not have them come and answer the questions?
JEAN-PIERRE: I — they have been — they have been talking to you all pretty regularly the last couple of days. We have put out — they have put out lengthy statements on this. I just read out what Richard Sauber had to say. And I would refer you to the White House Counsel. I am limited in what I can say because — because the Department of Justice — we see them as being independent when it comes to these types of issues. And so, I’m not going to go beyond what the President say — said. And I’m not going to go beyond what the lawyers said. I have to go around. You’ve asked about —
O’KEEFE: But can there be —
JEAN-PIERRE: You’ve asked me —
O’KEEFE: Can there at least be an acknowledgment then —
JEAN-PIERRE: Ed —
O’KEEFE:— that there’s going to be a limit in transparency — public, non-legal transparency — in what can be shared and said by this White House —
JEAN-PIERRE: I disagree. There has —
O’KEEFE: — given what we’ve learned today?
JEAN-PIERRE: I disagree, Ed. There has not been a limit of transparency. That is —
O’KEEFE: These statements were lacking —
JEAN-PIERRE: That is —
O’KEEFE:— information on —
JEAN-PIERRE: That is —
O’KEEFE:— when exactly these —
JEAN-PIERRE: There has not been a —
O’KEEFE: — things were found.
Next to the plate was Kristen Welker of NBC who challenged Jean-Pierre: “You have said repeatedly and the President has said he takes classified documents very seriously,” Welker said. “If that’s the case, why were these classified documents being stored in his garage?”
Jean-Pierre repeated the line she used countless times during the briefing, that “classified documents and information, he takes that very seriously.”
Welker shot back: “Does he think a garage as an appropriate place to store classified material?”
She followed up by asking if Jean-Pierre acknowledges “the fact that the White House did not reveal this to the public, despite the fact that you’ve known about it for months, undercuts the President’s promise of being transparent with the American people?”
“They were transparent,” Jean-Pierre muttered. “But not to the American people,” Welker shot back.
Last but not least, Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy referred to the Biden classified documents scandal as “GarageGate”. Doocy asked: “what is the White House trying to hide?”
“Nothing,” Jean-Pierre bluntly responded.
“Someone gave the President a statement to read on Tuesday that was incomplete at best, misleading at worst. Who?” Doocy asked.
Jean-Pierre claimed Biden “did not know that the records were there,” and that “we take this very seriously and the President does as well.”
Doocy followed up by asking: “When will the White House release a log of visitors to the Wilmington house?”
Jean-Pierre dodged the question and claimed that they “instituted something that the last administration got rid of, which is putting out the White House, putting making sure that there was a White House log, an extensive White House log, so the American people got to see.”
Tuesday wasn’t any better for Jean-Pierre with many of the same characters at play, including Doocy, Mattingly, O’Keefe, and Welker (with others such as the AP’s Zeke Miller, ABC’s Cecilia Vega, NPR’s Franco Ordoñez, and even theGrio’s April Ryan).
For O’Keefe, he spent a lengthy period duking it out with Jean-Pierre, calling her out for “not...answer[ing] the questions, but we’re going to ask them”. When he noted that Biden said on January 21, 2021, that the administration would be based on facts and transparency, Jean-Pierre whined that O’Keefe didn’t “need to” create “this kind of confrontation” and “be contentious” because “we work very well together.”
Doocy was also direct: “[H]ow could anyone be that irresponsible? Isn’t that what this President says about mishandling classified documents?” Later, he even asked whether Biden could “be trusted, moving forward, with America’s secrets.”
To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
White House press briefing
1/12/2023
3:30:38 p.m. EasternKARINE JEAN-PIERRE: All right. Chris, it’s yours.
CHRIS MEGERIAN (ASSOCIATED PRESS): So, a few questions about the classified documents. First off, is the President willing to be interviewed by federal investigators about his handling of classified documents?
JEAN-PIERRE: So, first, let me just say: I’m just not going to get into hypotheticals. This is something for the Department of —
MEGERIAN It’s not a hypothetical question. There’s an investigation ongoing. Will the President speak to investigators?
JEAN-PIERRE: It’s in the re- — it’s — ongoing review. Right? You’re asking me about something in the future, and I am telling you that I’m not going to get ahead of what the Department of Justice is going to decide.
Look, I want to reiterate what you heard from the President today. It is important for the American people to know this — is that the President has said he takes classified documents and information very seriously. This is something, as you all know, that he — that he will not shy away from saying and has continued to say this, this week.
And again, he was surprised that these records had been found. He does not know what’s in them. And his team, once they identified that these documents were — were there, they immediately reached out to the Archives and the Department of Justice and did the — rightfully so — did the right thing by turning that over. And they have been cooperating very closely with the Department of Justice.
You actually heard AG — Attorney General Garland say today that they heard from his team really shortly after the discovery.
And so, you know, I just want to make sure that this is understood: that he takes this very seriously.
MEGERIAN: So, speaking of him taking this seriously, this is the kind of thing that can cause government employees to lose a security clearance. This is a serious matter, as the White House has said. Was the President sloppy in his handling of classified material if there are multiple locations where classified documents are being found?
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I said this in my — I said that in the statement. It’s in the statement of — from his lawyer, Richard Sauber. And at the end, he said, “We are confident that their thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the President and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake.”
I’m going to leave it there. That’s what his lawyer said. But again, this is something that the President takes very seriously and we have been coordinating — they have been coordinating — his lawyers have been coordinating very closely with the Department of Justice.
MEGERIAN: Last thing is — the initial statement from the White House came out with on Monday, the President addressed us on Tuesday in Mexico City — all the conversation was about the documents in the office. However, according to the Attorney General, documents were found on December 20th in his garage in Wilmington. Why was it not immediately addressed? Is the White House being transparent about that if that was already known and not discussed upfront?
JEAN-PIERRE: So, just to — you said “transparent.” I want to say that we have been transparent here. That is why the minute that his lawyers found those documents, they reported it. They reached out to the Archives and the Department of Justice. And they did that voluntarily. And they were not compelled to do it. They did it voluntarily. Now, I want to step back a little bit, as you’re asking me about the timeline. Look, the lawyer said we have been working closely with the Department of Justice and coordinating a search that was still ongoing to ensure any additional documents were in the proper possession of the government.
After that search — after the search concluded last night, we released a statement disclosing the facts from that search, as you all know, this morning. This is all part of the Justice Department process. And you heard the Attorney General speak to this today. So, we are being very careful to be fully cooperative with the Department of Justice and providing details as appropriate, as part of that process.
MEGERIAN: So why didn’t you fully describe the documents when you were first asked this week?
JEAN-PIERRE: Because — and I actually answered that question. I said because there was a process happening that was currently ongoing. And — and I’ll refer you back to my comments that I made just yesterday.
[...]
JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead.
PHIL MATTINGLY (CNN): Thanks, Karine. In the statement from the special counsel about the second set of documents, it said the lawyers have completed the ongoing review by the President’s legal team last night. Does that mean there are no other locations where documents can be stored, there is no other search underway at this moment in time for documents from the Vice President’s time?
JEAN-PIERRE: So, as — as —I’m just going to — again, that statement pretty much lays — lays that — lays it out, that they — they have — as far as the lawyers, they look through the places where documents could have been stored, and the Counsel’s Office released a statement on that. Now it is in the hands of the special counsel.
MATTINGLY: So we should assume that it has been completed?
JEAN-PIERRE: It — it — you should assume that it’s been completed, yes.
MATTINGLY: Okay. And then I just want to square something that Chris was asking about. The review was underway when you guys gave a detailed statement about the first set of documents. The review was underway when the President spoke about the first set of documents. You’re now saying that you didn’t talk about the second set of documents, discovered almost a month prior because the review was underway. Like, I don’t unders- — it doesn’t make any sense.
JEAN-PIERRE: No, I think —
MATTINGLY: The review was underway the entire time. The only difference was that reporters had information on the first set of documents and, therefore, you chose to exclude the second set of documents until reporters got information on the second set of documents.
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, let me unconfuse you for a second, Phil. Look, we are trying to do this by the book. And I said yesterday this was under review by the Department of Justice. And the process is as such: When the — when the President’s lawyers realized that the documents existed, that they were there, they reached out to the Archives. They reached out to the Department of Justice — rightfully so, may I add. That is what you’re supposed to do as lawyers; that’s what they did. And they have fully been cooperating with — with the Department of Justice. And, again, I said this earlier in answering a question: You heard from the Attorney General. He said shortly after the documents were discovered, they — they — that we did outreach — the President’s lawyers did outreach to — to the Department of Justice and Archives.
MATTINGLY: But nobody is —nobody is question that. That’s not what we’re asking about. We’re asking about —
JEAN-PIERRE: I’m telling you, though, there’s a process. I just laid out what the process is.
MATTINGLY: I understand. And I’m asking about the public process of —
JEAN-PIERRE: And I’m telling you that we were trying to do this by the book, and it — it was ongoing process. I’m not going to get beyond that. But that is how this works.
[...]
ED O’KEEFE: Thank you, Karine.
JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you, Ed.
O’KEEFE: We are seeking information, and I appreciate and understand why the Press Office can only say so much. So help us understand this: Who are the President’s personal counsel that the Attorney General referred to today?
JEAN-PIERRE: I have to get — I was asked that question earlier. Let me get back to you. I actually don’t have that answer. I think I know who it is, but I want to make 100 percent (inaudible).
O’KEEFE: There’s names that have been — we have Bob Bauer is one, potentially Dana Remus, James Garland, Robert Lenhard.
JEAN-PIERRE: Look—
O’KEEFE: Are they the ones that have been contacting the Justice Department?
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, again, I don’t want to — I want to say the right thing from here, so I — we would have to — I would have talk to the White House Counsel, or you would have to reach out to the White House Counsel to talk about who is his personal lawyers — who are.
O’KEEFE: And to button this up, the first set of documents were found in November at the Penn Biden Center here in Washington, but why did it take until yesterday and until this morning, apparently, for whoever it was to inform Robert [sic] Lausch that that final document was found? Was that because there were press reports earlier this week —
JEAN-PIERRE: Again, there’s —
O’KEEFE:— And the hope was that nobody would find out?
JEAN-PIERRE: Again —
O’KEEFE: Or was it because —
JEAN-PIERRE: — there’s a process — an ongoing process that is occurring. We did this by the book. And what I mean by that is: The moment that the lawyers discovered that the papers were there, or the documents were there, they reached out to the Archives, they reached out to Department of Justice, and they immediately — rightfully so — reached out to them to let them know what — what they had discovered. And that is the process. That is what we — that is what his lawyers did. And, again, it’s an ongoing process.
As you stated in your question, I am limited in what I can say. It is now in the hands of the Department of Justice. They are reviewing this. As you know, the special counsel was announced by the Attorney General. And so I will leave it there.
O’KEEFE: What was the President trying to say when he referenced his Corvette earlier today? Because it sounded like he was implying that because his garage is a safe place for his car, the documents were safe and, therefore, it was a — if it was safe for the car, it was safe for the documents. Is that what he meant?
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I — I’m going to just leave his statement as is. I think you — your colleague was having a back-and-forth with the President. You can read the transcript of what was asked of him and why he responded that way. I’m just not going to get into specifics.
O’KEEFE: And you talk about “we are being transparent.” Who is “we”? And what is the definition of “transparent” in this case? Is it the lawyers being transparent legally with the Archives and the Justice Department? Or is it the White House writ large being transparent with the general public?
JEAN-PIERRE: So, number one — and I’ve said this multiple times already — we take this very seriously. The President takes this very seriously. He was not aware that the records were there. He does not know what — what is in the documents. Again, classified information, classified documents, he takes very seriously.
When they were discovered — and this is the right thing to do — right? — his lawyers reached out immediately to the Archivist, they reached out to Department of Justice to let them know that the papers, or the documents —
O’KEEFE: Who was it? Was it the Archivist or the Justice Department? Because the Attorney General, this morning, said that the attorneys reached out to the Archives. It was only later, in December, when the second batch was apparently found —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I will —
O’KEEFE: —that then they were reaching to the Justice Department.
JEAN-PIERRE: I — I will leave it — I will leave it to what the Department of Justice is laying out. What we are saying is that we reached out to the Archivist, we reached out to Department of Justice. That is what is the right thing to do in this case. And not —
JEAN-PIERRE: — and — and — and — so I can finish here — what has been transparent in this as well is that the White House Counsel has le- — has laid out in detail, on Monday, to all of you —
O’KEEFE: But they haven’t laid out everything, Karine, and you know that.
JEAN-PIERRE: First of all, I can’t talk about this — right? — because it is — the Department of Justice is reviewing it. There is a review happening, Ed. Right? You know this. We just heard from the Attorney General. There is a review. I am limited in what I can say to this.
O’KEEFE: Then could Richard Sauber perhaps come here or Stuart Delery come here?
JEAN-PIERRE: I think you should — I think you should reach out to the White House Counsel.
O’KEEFE: We’re reaching out on a constant basis —
JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. And —
O’KEEFE:— but why not have them come here, to the room —
JEAN-PIERRE: Okay, I am saying to you —
O’KEEFE:— to take questions?
JEAN-PIERRE: —that we have put out lengthy statements. And you can reach out to them, as you all have been doing. And I will leave it there. Go ahead.
O’KEEFE: But why are they subjecting you to this, Karine, then?
JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Justin.
O’KEEFE: Why not have them come and answer the questions?
JEAN-PIERRE: I — they have been — they have been talking to you all pretty regularly the last couple of days. We have put out — they have put out lengthy statements on this. I just read out what Richard Sauber had to say. And I would refer you to the White House Counsel. I am limited in what I can say because — because the Department of Justice — we see them as being independent when it comes to these types of issues. And so, I’m not going to go beyond what the President say — said. And I’m not going to go beyond what the lawyers said. I have to go around. You’ve asked about —
O’KEEFE: But can there be —
JEAN-PIERRE: You’ve asked me —
O’KEEFE: Can there at least be an acknowledgment then —
JEAN-PIERRE: Ed —
O’KEEFE:— that there’s going to be a limit in transparency — public, non-legal transparency — in what can be shared and said by this White House —
JEAN-PIERRE: I disagree. There has —
O’KEEFE: — given what we’ve learned today?
JEAN-PIERRE: I disagree, Ed. There has not been a limit of transparency. That is —
O’KEEFE: These statements were lacking —
JEAN-PIERRE: That is —
O’KEEFE:— information on —
JEAN-PIERRE: That is —
O’KEEFE:— when exactly these —
JEAN-PIERRE: There has not been a —
O’KEEFE: — things were found.
JEAN-PIERRE: — limit of transparency. That I will — I will disagree with you on that. Justin.
[...]
KAREN TRAVERS (ABC): Just some — more of a follow-up to a couple of questions. But is the President confident — you said that the search has been completed, but is the President confident that there are no additional documents with classified markings that remain in any other additional locations?
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I can just refer you to what his team said: The search is complete. He is confident in this process. And I will leave it there.
TRAVERS: And —
JEAN-PIERRE: And they’ve been cooperating very closely with the Department of Justice.
TRAVERS: And we’ve gotten this statement that the White House did not get advance notice that Garland was appointing a special counsel.
JEAN-PIERRE: That is correct.
TRAVERS: When did the President learn? How did he learn? Was it from the press conference? Did he get a heads-up before that?
JEAN-PIERRE: We learned from the press conference.
TRAVERS: The President?
JEAN-PIERRE: The President. We — we were not given a heads up, and we learned from the press conference.
[...]
KRISTEN WELKER: Karine, you have said repeatedly and the President has said he takes classified documents very seriously. If that’s the case, why were these classified documents being stored in his garage?
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, again — and not just me, he has said this — you’ve heard the President say this twice already, and he’s said this before: Classified documents and information, he takes that very seriously. And —
WELKER: Does he think a garage as an appropriate place to store classified material?
JEAN-PIERRE: I’m not going to go into — into what he thinks or how he feels about what is currently happening. What I can say for sure, when it comes to this specific issue about classified documents, about classified information, he takes that very seriously. He did not know — right? — he did not know the records were there. He was surprised that the records were there. So, let’s be very clear. That is something that the President shared with all of you on the world stage and also recently today. And so, what he — what occurred was, as I’ve said multiple times before, is when his team identified that these records existed, they — they handed them over to the Archivist and also the Department of Justice.
WELKER: Do — just one more, Karine.
JEAN-PIERRE: Sure.
WELKER: Do you acknowledge that the fact that the White House did not reveal this to the public, despite the fact that you’ve known about it for months, undercuts the President’s promise of being transparent with the American people?
JEAN-PIERRE: But we — but here’s the thing: They were transparent.
WELKER: But not to the American people.
JEAN-PIERRE: There was — there was transparency in doing what you’re supposed to do when these — when these items were discovered.
WELKER: But not with the American people.
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, we — I am here, standing in front of you, answering these questions. Right? The President took two questions this week on this. You’ve heard — wait, let me just answer. You’ve heard from the White House Counsel, who put out multiple statements on this. And so, again, this is an ongoing process. We want to respect the process, and we have laid out very clearly what occurred. And, again, I don’t want to get ahead of this. The Department of Justice — you — you all can — will get your questions answered from them during — during this time. And so, I would just refer you to Department of Justice. And now, as you all know, there’s a special counsel dealing with this.
PETER DOOCY: Thank you, Karine. Another one on GarageGate. What is the White House trying to hide?
JEAN-PIERRE: Nothing.
DOOCY: Someone gave the President a statement to read on Tuesday that was incomplete at best, misleading at worst. Who?
JEAN-PIERRE: So, I have read out the President’s statement. I read it out yesterday and what he said. He said that he we- — he respects — or he takes classified information and documents very seriously. That’s what he said. He said that he did not know that the records were there. He does not know what’s in them. He said that. You heard from him directly on this. And his team has been cooperating fully. Fully. And not only that — again, I’ll say this: The Attorney General said this himself that he heard from the team shortly after. So, we have laid out — laid out what has occurred here. You have heard from the White House Counsel. I just read the statement from his lawyer. And again, you know, we take this very seriously and the President does as well.
DOOCY: When will the White House release a log of visitors to the Wilmington house?
JEAN-PIERRE: You know, Peter, you’ve asked this question or your colleagues have asked this question before. Let’s not forget what we did here in this White House. We instituted something that the last administration got rid of, which is putting out the White House — putting — making sure that there was a White House log — an extensive White House log — so the American people got to see —
DOOCY: I mean at the Wilmington house where there is —
JEAN-PIERRE: Again —
DOOCY: — potentially unsecured, classified material.
JEAN-PIERRE: Again, I am telling you: We did something that the last administration got rid of, which is instituting the White House logs. Did you ask the last administration why they got rid of the White House logs?
DOOCY: I was the campaign reporter —
JEAN-PIERRE: Okay, let’s go. Let’s go.
DOOCY: — covering Joe Biden in Wilmington. We don’t know who had access —
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, did — Fox did?
[...]
PHILIP WEGMANN: Thank you, Karine. I have a couple of questions here, but I wanted to follow up quickly. You have said repeatedly that the President’s lawyers did the right thing. But you also said earlier during the briefing, of the President’s lawyers immediately reaching out to the National Archives, that, quote, they were not “compelled” to do it; they did it “voluntarily.” Is it the position of the White House that legally the President could have just held on to these?
JEAN-PIERRE: That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying they did the right thing. Period. I wouldn’t read into it. I’m saying that they did the right thing, and they did it voluntarily. Because it is the right thing to do when you find these types of documents to indeed reach out to the Archives and reach out to the Department of Justice. So, they — and — and outside of that, they have been cooperating very closely with — cooperating very closely with the Department of Justice. It is the — and rightfully so they did this.
WEGMANN: But I guess I — I’m just a little confused, and I want to move on, but what did you mean when you said that they, you know, were not “compelled” to do it?
JEAN-PIERRE: They did it — they did it — they did the right thing. That’s it. I wouldn’t — I wouldn’t go into — down into a rabbit hole on this. They did the right thing by reaching out to the Archivist and to the Department of Justice.
WEGMANN: And then, does the White House know how many stops these classified documents made before they ended up in his home in Delaware or in the Biden Penn Office? For instance, can you rule out that there was a third stop between a secure location and the garage?
JEAN-PIERRE: Again, I would refer you to Department of Justice.
WEGMANN: And then, there was a question that was asked about the visitor logs with regards to folks who have come in and out of the President’s home in Delaware. Does the administration have any idea, between the garage and the Biden Penn Office, just how many people could have gotten their hands on this? Or, you know, are we to assume that the White House doesn’t have an estimate, that they don’t know?
JEAN-PIERRE: There’s an ongoing review on this, and I would refer you to the Department of Justice.
WEGMANN: Okay. And then, you know, just finally, the President has said that his lawyers have advised him not to ask what was in these classified documents. I don’t understand the purpose of that. He’s the President of the United States. He has (inaudible).
JEAN-PIERRE: Because we’re trying to do this by the book. We’re trying to do this in the appropriate way. And so that’s what I would say to you. We have — we have — his team has been complying — right? — cooperating with the Department of Justice. And I will leave it there. I’m not going to go beyond.
WEGMANN: Well, what in the book says that he can’t look at this? What would compel him or push him in that direction? Because you’ve said that repeatedly. What, I guess — as he tries to do this by the book, as he tries to do the right thing — you know, what are his lawyers looking at that says, “Yeah, don’t look at this classified information that was found”?
JEAN-PIERRE: Again, there’s a process here. The process is that when the lawyers found that these documents existed, they reached out to the Archive and also the Department of Justice. That is the process, and they have been — they have been cooperating closely, working closely with the Department of Justice. And now, as you’ve heard, the Attorney General made a statement today, and so I would refer you to them.
