On 11/18/2022, during press briefing, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “Was the President aware of the Attorney General’s decision to name a special counsel to oversee the investigations into former President Trump? And is there any reaction from him to that decision?”

Jean-Pierre insisted the Biden White House does not politicize the Justice Department after US Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate whether Trump committed crimes. Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump three days after the former president announced his 2024 bid for the White House. The special counsel investigation will focus on whether Trump broke the law when he took White House records to Mar-a-Lago.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So just, first, I can just tell you: No, he was not aware. We were not aware … We are not involved. We are not — we have not been aware about this particular investigation … But again, we were not given advance notice. We were not aware of this — of this investigation.

Reporter: And any reaction from the President?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No reaction. Again, this is going to be up to the Attorney General, up to the Department of Justice …

Reporter: Thanks. Just first, really quick, following up on what you said about the special counsel. Even if the President wasn’t aware ahead of time, I’m sure he is aware now. Can you provide any details about who informed him today, when he learned of the news, how he learned of the news today?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Again, I’m just not going to go beyond. I know you’re asking me about the President specifically. I’ve not spoken to him before coming — before coming out here, so I can’t give you details on that. I’m assuming it was — it was a — you know, a senior member of his staff who would most likely have let him know about — about the special counsel.

Reporter: Thanks, Karine. First of all, on the appointment of the special counsel today, former President Trump reacted to this news in an interview calling this the, quote, “worst politicization of justice.” He said that this was an unfair and political decision. I’m wondering if you have a response to that.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I will say this, and I’ve said this many times before: We do not politicize the Department of Justice. That is something that the President said during the campaign. That is something that the President said in his early days of — of being in the White House. And that continues to be true. We were not involved in this — in this particular issue. We were not involved in — let me just say that more broadly — we’re not involved … We were not given advance — advance notice. Again, I would refer you to the Department of Justice on any — any questions on this. But this is not an administration — the President has been very clear — that will politicize the Department of Justice.

Reporter: And, finally, does the former President’s announcement this week have any bearing on the current President’s calculation in his decision as to whether he’s going to run again?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, again, Hatch Act, going to be very careful. You’re asking me about an election that’s coming up in 2024. The President has been very clear that he intends to run, and — and so I’m going to — I’m going to leave it there.

Jean Pieree started with, “the President, as you know, has taken great pride in making sure that his administration looks like America. And now that we have a little clearer picture of last week’s election results, we wanted to highlight how Americans turned out to elect a number — a few diverse and historic public servants to represent them at every level of government. Here are just a few — a few. Just — just hold on. I’ll go through them. First, a record number of female governors were elected in this year’s midterms. Maura Healey from Massachusetts and Tina Kotek of Oregon were elected the nation’s first openly…”

She did not mention Sarah Elizabeth Huckabee Sanders who was born August 13, 1982 and is an American former political spokesperson and the governor-elect of Arkansas. She was the 31st White House press secretary, serving under President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019. She was the third woman to serve in that position. Sanders previously worked on the election campaigns of her father, Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. After working for Trump, Sanders became the Republican nominee in the 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election and won. On November 9, 2022, it was announced that Sanders had won the race and will soon become Arkansas’s first female governor, and the first woman to be governor of a state her father was previously governor of.

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Special counsel: we do not politicize DOJ, not aware, not given advance notice; Biden 2024