Karine Jean-Pierre Laughably Claims WH Learned About Trump Raid From ‘Public Reports,’ Refuses to Answer Detailed Questions – Opinion

During Tuesday’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed formerly anonymous claims that the White House had not been briefed about Monday’s FBI raid at Donald Trump’s home, Mar-a-Lago, and that they learned about the hours-long action the way everybody else did.

After her initial presentation, Jean-Pierre was asked (by a reporter who stumbled over the words “served a search warrant” several times, grasping for the politispeak phrase for “raid”):

On a different topic, the FBI served a search warrant on the former president’s residence in Florida. Did the White House know about that search warrant or were any White House staffers briefed on the consequences of it being executed?

Answer:

No. The president was not briefed, did not — was not aware of it. No. The White House did not give anyone a heads up. No. This was not the case.

Following up, the reporter inquired about the effects of the raid upon the political climate at the moment and on optics. Jean-Pierre read her canned reply from her binder.

We leave all matters of law enforcement to the Justice Department, which conducts its own investigations. We would be inappropriate to discuss ongoing investigations. It is clear that President Biden has stood firm since his campaign. As President, he believes in the Rule of Law, the Independence of Justice Department Investigations, and that these investigations shouldn’t be subject to political influence.

She referred all press questions to the Department of Justice and to multiple questions about the optics by saying, “Look, we’re just not going to comment.”

In response to another reporter’s question, Jean-Pierre added more detail to her answer about how the White House learned of the raid.

Look, I’ll say this. The President learned of the FBI’s search through public reports. We learned just like the American public did yesterday, and we did not have advance notice of this activity.

Another reporter asked if this action by the Justice Department was handled the way Biden promised the department would function when he nominated Merrick Garland on January 7, 2021, and, after being flustered for a moment, she said it was up to the DOJ to decide if they’d upheld Biden’s standard.

She refused to answer any questions from Fox News’s Peter Doocy, even though he started out by asking if Biden considered Trump a political rival, then referenced a statement Biden made that he’d be fortunate to have Trump as his opponent again in 2024. She gave a curious response:

Peter, all I can say is that President Trump intends to run for office in 2024.

Doocy then asked Doocy direct questions about the raid.

Are the Justice Department or FBI being used by the White House to intimidate political opponents?

Jean-Pierre tried to repeat the canned response.

The President has been very clear from before he was elected…

Blah, blah, blah. Doocy continued to attempt to to ask the yes or no question, and Jean-Pierre continued to not answer the question while claiming she’d answered the question but Doocy just didn’t like it.

Jean-Pierre did not say whether Biden and Garland were present on Tuesday.

It is not possible to claim that anyone at the White House knew about a raid on the home of an ex-president, in which a warrant was obtained for execution on Friday, august 5. Absolute stop.

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