Jean-Pierre on Biden's Classified Documents: 'He Was Surprised That the Records Were There' (January 2023)

On January 9, 2023, CBS News reported that about 10 documents with classified markings had been found at the Penn Biden Center, the Washington office President Biden used after his vice presidency. His lawyers had found them on November 2, 2022, six days before the midterm elections, and the National Archives took possession of them the next day; on December 20, more marked documents were found in the garage of his home in Wilmington, Delaware [6][9]. For the rest of the month, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the documents at briefing after briefing. This video shows her answer on January 11 to the question of how Biden could be trusted with the nation’s secrets. Quotes are from the official briefing transcripts published by the American Presidency Project.

Key Moments

”How can President Biden be trusted … with America’s secrets?” (January 11)

“How can President Biden be trusted, moving forward, with America’s secrets?” a reporter asked. “Because his lawyers, his team did the right thing,” Jean-Pierre said. “But he had a closet with classified information in it,” the reporter replied. “How did it get there? … Did the lawyers doing the right thing put the documents in the closet?” “He was surprised that the records were there. He spoke to this personally,” she said. “But they were there,” the reporter said. “He was surprised that the — that the records were there,” she repeated. “And when his lawyers found out and his team found out that they were there, they turned it over to the Archives. And now it’s being reviewed by the Department of Justice” [1].

”We talked about the revelation of the documents” (January 11)

At the same briefing, a reporter asked her to clarify an earlier answer suggesting she had not discussed the matter with Biden. “The way I heard the question is, ‘Have you talked to the President about the documents?’ And he doesn’t know what’s in the documents,” she said. Asked whether she had talked to him about “the revelation of these documents,” she said yes, adding: “We’ve talked about the CBS story. We talked about the revelation of the documents, obviously. But about the documents itself, what’s in them, that is something that the President doesn’t even know” [1].

”The search is clearly complete” (January 12)

The next day, after the White House confirmed the second batch of documents in Delaware, she told reporters that the lawyers’ search of Biden’s Wilmington home “was completed last night.” A reporter asked whether the White House had shared incomplete information earlier in the week, noting that Attorney General Merrick Garland had just said the documents at the residence were found on December 20. “But just one document was found last night?” the reporter asked. “The search was continuing. It was ongoing. The process, as I have been saying, was ongoing. And the search is clearly complete, and therefore we shared the information with all of you,” Jean-Pierre said [2].

”They were transparent” (January 12)

Later in the same briefing, she said of Biden: “He did not know — right? — he did not know the records were there. He was surprised that the records were there.” A reporter asked whether keeping the discovery from the public “for months” undercut Biden’s promise of transparency. “But here’s the thing: They were transparent,” she said. “There was transparency in doing what you’re supposed to do when these items were discovered.” “But not with the American people,” the reporter said. “Look, I am here, standing in front of you, answering these questions,” she replied. Asked “What is the White House trying to hide?” she answered: “Nothing” [2].

”Faking outrage” (January 17)

A reporter noted that the White House had said Republicans were “faking outrage” and asked: “Why shouldn’t Americans be outraged about classified documents being found in a garage?” “He said that he didn’t know. Right? He said that he was surprised,” Jean-Pierre answered. “And he said that he takes classified information and documents very, very seriously.” Pressed again, she said: “That’s for the American people to decide” [3].

What Biden Said

The president’s own remarks were the basis for her answers. At a news conference in Mexico City on January 10, he said: “I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any Government records that were taken there to that office. But I don’t know what’s in the documents” [4]. He did not mention the Delaware discovery, which his lawyers had made three weeks earlier [9]. Two days later, asked about the garage, he said the material was locked up, “as well as my Corvette,” adding: “people know I take classified documents and classified material seriously” [5].

Fact Check

“They were transparent.” With the government, yes: the White House Counsel’s Office notified the National Archives the day the first documents were found, and the Archives took possession of them the next day [6]. With the public, no: the November discovery was not disclosed until CBS reported it on January 9, and the White House did not confirm the December 20 garage discovery until January 12, the day the attorney general appointed a special counsel [6][8].
“The search is clearly complete.” Overtaken that evening. Richard Sauber, a White House lawyer who holds a security clearance, went to the Wilmington house on the evening of January 12 to hand the one-page document to Justice Department officials. “While I was transferring it to the DOJ officials who accompanied me, five additional pages with classification markings were discovered among the material with it, for a total of six pages,” he said in a statement on January 14 [6]. On January 20, an FBI search of the house found six more items with classification markings [7].
“He did not know the records were there.” Partly contradicted by the special counsel. For the documents at the Penn Biden Center, Special Counsel Robert Hur concluded that “the evidence suggests that the marked classified documents found at the Penn Biden Center were sent and kept there by mistake.” But his report found “evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency,” including marked classified documents about Afghanistan found in his Delaware garage and notebooks with his handwritten notes. In a recorded conversation with his ghostwriter in February 2017, about a month after leaving office, Biden said he had “just found all the classified stuff downstairs” [9].
“He takes classified information and documents very, very seriously.” The special counsel found that after his vice presidency Biden kept notebooks containing classified notes “in unsecured and unauthorized spaces at his Virginia and Delaware homes,” and that he “shared information, including some classified information, from those notebooks with his ghostwriter.” The report nonetheless concluded that the evidence did “not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt” [9].

For other statements by Jean-Pierre that the record contradicted, see our article on her “$70 per gallon” mistake and other statements of hers that proved wrong.

What Happened Next

A special counsel: On January 12, 2023, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney in Maryland, as special counsel [8].
An FBI search: On January 20, the FBI searched Biden’s Wilmington home for about 13 hours and found six more items with classification markings, along with some of his notes, according to his lawyer [7].
The report: Hur’s report, dated February 5, 2024, concluded that “no criminal charges are warranted in this matter,” adding: “We would reach the same conclusion even if Department of Justice policy did not foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president.” It also said that at trial Biden would likely present himself as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” [9][10].