On 1/19/2023, Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about the ‘questions that you should be able to answer here that shouldn’t have to go to any other agency or entity.’
‘To be clear, it’s not your decision to make of what I can and can’t answer from here,’ Jean-Pierre responded. Jean-Pierre also repeatedly referred questions to the White House counsel’s office and the Justice Department – as she has done since Wednesday, which was her first press briefing since the White House announced the discovery of classified material in Biden’s personal possession.
When CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang asked about security procedures at the White House – and not about the Justice Department investigation, Jean-Pierre said: ‘To be clear, I’m going to refer you to the my colleagues at the White House Counsel’s Office. They will be able to address that particular questions. I’m just not going to address something that is even related to an ongoing legal process.’
‘Why not?, Weijia responded. ‘I mean, I’m having a hard time understanding why you can’t answer questions about procedure.’
‘I just said to you, the White House Counsel’s Office will be able to address that question,’ Jean-Pierre said. When the press secretary kept referring questions to the Justice Department and the White House counsel’s office, Weijia asked: ‘Just to be clear – from this point on. Are you not going to be taking questions about the classified data?’
Jean-Pierre didn’t answer directly. ‘I have been very clear over and over again, we’re going to be prudent here. We’re going to be consistent as this particular matter is being is being looked at. There’s a legal process currently happening at the Department of Justice. And I’m going to refer you to the Department of Justice on any specifics to this particular case,’ she said.
‘And anything that has to deal with what we’re doing here, I would refer to the White House Counsel’s Office. And let me remind you this is this is this is not a new process here. I we’ve been doing this for the past two years.’
Weijia then asked if representatives from the Justice Department or the White House counsel’s office would come to the press briefing room since Jean-Pierre kept referring questions to those entities.
‘If you are not able to talk about this from the podium, would you invite a DOJ official to take our questions here to the briefing?,’ she said.
‘No, you would have to go to the Department of Justice,’ Jean-Pierre replied.
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Q: shouldn’t to any other agency or entity, about procedure A: refer you to, refer you to …