On 1/12/2023, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “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 understand, it doesn’t make any sense.
KJP: No, I think —
Reporter: 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.
KJP: 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 … we did outreach — the President’s lawyers did outreach to — to the Department of Justice and Archives.
Reporter: But nobody is — nobody is question that. That’s not what we’re asking about. We’re asking about —
KJP: I’m telling you, though, there’s a process. I just laid out what the process is.
Reporter: I understand. And I’m asking about the public process of —
KJP: And I’m telling you that we were trying to do this by the book, and it — it was ongoing process …
Go ahead.
Reporter: How can you say this was transparent —
KJP: Go ahead.
Reporter: — when you sat on this information for more than two
months?
Reporter: 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?
KJP: 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.
Reporter: There’s names that have been — we have Bob Bauer is one, potentially Dana Remus, James Garland, Robert Lenhard.
KJP: Look —
Reporter: Are they the ones that have been contacting the Justice Department?
KJP: 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 …
Reporter: 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 Lausch that that final document was found? Was that because there were press reports earlier this week —
KJP: Again, there’s —
Reporter: — and the hope was that nobody would find out?
KJP: Again —
Reporter: Or was it because —
KJP: — 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 …
Reporter: 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?
KJP: 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.
Reporter: 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?
KJP: So, number one — and I’ve said this multiple times already — we take this very seriously. The President takes this very seriously .. reached out immediately to the Archivist …
Reporter: 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 that then they were reaching to the Justice Department.
KJP: I — I will leave it — I will leave it to … we reached out to the Archivist …
Reporter: And you withheld it from the public.
KJP: — 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 —
Reporter: But they haven’t laid out everything, Karine, and you know that.
KJP: First of all, I can’t talk about this — right? … Ed. Right? You know this …
https://facebook.com/HygoNewsUSA/videos/568093068200357/
Q: safe for Biden Corvette then safe docs? Reporters had 1st docs, thus you chose to exclude 2nd docs?