CLAIM: “There has been some irresponsible reporting … The Biden family was not here … Friday.”
VERDICT: FALSE. According to White House pool reporters, the Bidens only left the White house Friday evening.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked during Friday’s press briefing to elaborate on a bizarre response by her deputy, Andrew Bates, who cited the Hatch Act on Thursday in declining to answer whether cocaine that was found in the West Wing last weekend belonged to the president or his son Hunter, as Donald Trump had suggested.
The Hatch Act prevents federal employees from politicking while on the job.
A visibly annoyed Jean-Pierre defended Bates, then claimed it was “incredibly irresponsible” to ask the question.
WH spox is asked: Did cocaine belong to Biden family? Answer: ‘There has been some irresponsible reporting about the family…I have been very clear…the Biden family was not here…were at Camp David…That question is actually incredibly irresponsible.’ https://t.co/2YF24C9nKk
— Byron York (@ByronYork) July 7, 2023
She slammed what she called “irresponsible reporting,” and claimed that the Biden family had not even been in the White House Friday through Monday, returning from Camp David only on Tuesday.
However, that claim is contradicted by contemporaneous reporting by the White House pool, which said that the Biden family had, in fact, been in the White House, including Hunter, on Friday until leaving for Camp David that evening.
The pool report supplied by Eugene Daniels of POLITICO on Friday, June 30, stated: “Poolers saw Jill Biden, Baby Beau and Hunter Biden climb into presidential SUV. President Biden followed a few minutes later. Motorcade rolling to Fort McNair as of 6:34p.”
Fact check: @presssec said there was ‘irresponsible’ reporting on WH cocaine because Biden family ‘were not here Friday’
Hunter was at WH Friday according to @EugeneDaniels2 pool report https://t.co/2GoWiy6ao9 pic.twitter.com/tva9IOtwAO
— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) July 7, 2023
Moreover, there is photographic evidence to back up the pool report. The Associated Press published the following photo (see below) on Friday, June 30, showing both Joe and Hunter Biden leaving Fort McNair for Camp David.
President Joe Biden walks with his son Hunter Biden towards Marine One at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, Friday, June 30, 2023. Biden is heading to Camp David for the long holiday weekend. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was also asked about the cocaine, which was allegedly found near the Situation Room. He denied that there were any national security implications and deferred to the Secret Service.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
