Karine Jean Pierre struggles to do her job in the best of times. It has not been the best. The biggest scandal to have engulfed the Biden administration’s history has been the revelations that the press secretary was faced with. She’s shown repeatedly that she’s not designed to work in an environment that rewards praise.
She was the first black, lesbian, or immigrant to be appointed to the job. This gave her some protection against tough questions. The protection she received from tough questions has now been lost as the media demands answers to why Joe Biden illegally had multiple troves of classified documents after he was elected vice president.
Jean-Pierre has always claimed that they are completely transparent and historically transparent. Jonathan Turley explained on Friday why this is not true.
It is increasingly painful to watch Karine Jean-Pierre as she argues that they have been "transparent" by being transparently unwilling to answer any questions…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 13, 2023
The current administration is the most opaque in citing federal statutes and protocols that are not applicable. Jean-Pierre often claims she is unable to answer simple questions due to the Hatch Act, or allegedly ongoing investigations.
Turley rightly pointed out that this is not the way any of it is supposed to work. It will not have any impact on the DOJ investigation if the White House is honest about what happened. And it’s unfair to accuse the apparent independence of the department of lying. The White House was free to reveal these documents before they were leaked.
The White House tried to hide what was going on every step of the process. They shift from lying to obfuscation, while still claiming transparency when exposed.
…The White House has already stated that the documents were inadvertently removed but refuses to answer questions on the basis or meaning of that defense…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 13, 2023
In his third post, Turley focuses on the crucial part. Jean-Pierre, a White House spokesperson, continues to claim that the documents were accidentally deleted. They haven’t explained how it could have happened, who could possibly have done it, or how the defense absolved President Obama of any responsibility. It is one way to say that gross negligence was involved by claiming the classified information was stolen incorrectly. Biden has not provided any explanation for how some of the documents ended up in his possession.
Jean-Pierre is correct in claiming that the White House was not the most transparent in history. Instead, it has made a mockery out of Americans and treated them like slobs to avoid any accountability. All the excuses seem to be adding up and even journalists who were previously friendly are now pressing the issue. Jean-Pierre is unlikely to be able to talk her boss out.
