Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House’s press secretary, refuted claims that the Justice Department’s raid on ex-president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club was politically motivated.
Pres. Biden has not been briefed on FBI search of former Pres. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, press sec. Karine Jean-Pierre tells @JonKarl.
“Not discussed…We have learned about all of this the same way the American people have learned about this.” https://t.co/zVnvUs7i3Y pic.twitter.com/xOg4MPBmty
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) August 14, 2022
Following the FBI raid on the Trump home, the White House press secretary went on ABC’s This Week to try to repair the damage.
“Biden ran on not politicizing the DOJ — he has said that as president — but how concerned is he to see this investigation play out in the middle of a campaign, at least raising the appearance of a politicized Department of Justice?” Jon Karl, ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent and co-host of This Week, was asked.
Jean-Pierre exclaimed, “this is not true,” and then went on to back Attorney General Merrick Garland, asserting that he is not the President’s litigator and that Biden believes in the rule of law.
“We do not interfere, we do not get briefed,” Jean-Pierre stated. “The Department of Justice—again, when it comes to law enforcement matters, it is independent—complete independence—and I’m just not going to comment on that…because we’re going to let Merrick Garland speak for himself.”
It’s intriguing that, having commented on the matter, she now swears she won’t.
And her remarks did little to allay fears that the DOJ has become politicized. If she had answered, “Nah, we wouldn’t do that,” it would have been the same. It’s like she said: “Believe me, I’m a government official.”
Perhaps Karl might have pressed the issue further by asking, what concrete efforts is the Biden Administration taking to assure openness and an ethical standard of conduct to the public? Particularly when top Federal agent Peter Strzok, who was tasked with the Mueller probe, and FBI attorney Lisa Page have shown evidence of corruption in the past.
Isn’t it better to have an impartial third party conduct the investigation? We still don’t know why the AG waited so long to comment on the raid. To what end did the DOJ wait so long before releasing the search warrant and property receipt after necessary redactions were made?
How come the Department of Justice is investigating Donald Trump, President Joe Biden’s past and potential future opponent, but not Hunter Biden? How was it possible that the Biden Administration had no idea the raid was taking place?
Herein lies a significant puzzle. The administration of Joe Biden was unaware of this? It is the President who has ultimate control over all executive agencies. Is the Press Secretary of the White House seriously going to assert that President Joe Biden, who serves as the head of state, was unaware of the interactions that the FBI had with the President’s political rival?
Absolutely not; this is absurd. Clearly, he is just an everyday Joe. Just like the rest of the world, he heard about it on the news.
