Last year, President Joe Biden blistered his predecessor for mishandling classified files. Now, finding himself entangled in a similar quagmire, Biden has repeatedly downplayed questions about his own handling of the nation’s secrets.
Well over two dozen files with classified markings have reportedly been confiscated from Biden. They mostly stem from his vice presidency days in the Obama administration.
BIDEN TEAM BROKE FIRST RULE OF CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS ON CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS, EXPERTS SAY
Some of the material included top secret information and documents marked for “sensitive compartmented information.” The FBI searched his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home this week.
Throughout the steady drip of revelations in his brewing classified document scandal, Biden has evaded and downplayed questions on the controversy.
Here are seven instances where Biden and the White House downplayed or evaded questions on the classified file debacle.
“I don’t know what’s in the documents”
A day after public revelations emerged that a “small number” of classified documents were recovered from his think tank on Nov. 2, 2022, Biden broke his silence on the matter and revealed that he was “surprised by the discovery.”
His remarks came during the North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico.
“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. My lawyers have not suggested I ask what documents they were,” Biden explained.
BIden responds to classified documents that were found in his private office: “I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there to that office. But I don’t know what’s in the documents.” pic.twitter.com/je0OHrVqV5
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 11, 2023
“His team handled it the right way”
White House press briefings quickly became dominated by the classified document scandal. Early on, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was adamant that Biden handled the situation the “right way.” She also sidestepped a slew of questions on the matter.
“It is, again, an ongoing process. We’re going to respect the process,” she told reporters early on. “As the president said, his team handled it the right way. And we’re just not going to get ahead of the process from here.”
“My corvette is in a locked garage, OK”
A day after breaking his silence, Biden had a fiery exchange with Fox News’s Peter Doocy over revelations that a second batch of documents had been found in his Wilmington, Delaware, garage. It was reported that they were likely near his prized Goodwood Green 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray convertible.
“Classified materials next to your corvette? What were you thinking?” Doocy pressed.
“By the way — my corvette is in a locked garage, OK? It’s not like they are sitting in the street,” Biden shot back.
“As I said earlier this week, people know I take classified documents and classified material seriously. I also said we’re cooperating fully and completely with the Justice Department’s review,” Biden said.
Peter Doocy on new batch of classified documents found in Biden’s garage: “Classified material next to your Corvette! What were you thinking?”
Biden responds: “My Corvette is in a locked garage, OK? So it’s not like they’re sitting out on the street” pic.twitter.com/8c8bgAEzip
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 12, 2023
Mum about additional findings
“I have been forthcoming from this podium,” Jean-Pierre told reporters on Jan. 17 when pressed about why she did not immediately inform the public about an additional discovery days earlier.
“I was repeating what the [White House] counsel was sharing at that time,” she said.
Days earlier, on Jan. 12, the Justice Department was notified that five additional pages of classified material were unearthed at Biden’s residence in Wilmington, Delaware. That came the same day Robert Hur was named special counsel. However, Jean-Pierre declined to divulge that to reporters the following day in a press briefing. Instead, the White House counsel released a statement on Jan. 14 confirming the additional finding.
The White House’s failure to disclose the finding mirrored its earlier approach. After revelations about the November batch at the Biden think tank surfaced, the White House did not reveal the second batch found in Wilmington last December until media reports exposed it.
“No there there”
Shortly after special counsel Robert Hur was named to investigate the classified document debacle, Biden insisted that there was no “there there” and expressed no remorse for his actions.
“We’re fully cooperating, looking forward to getting this resolved quickly. I think you’re gonna find there’s nothing there. I have no regrets. I’m following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do. That’s exactly what we’re doing. There’s no there there,” Biden said.
NEW: “There’s no there there,” President Biden says in response to a question on the classified documents found at his home and former office, while delivering remarks in California.
“I think you’re going to find there’s nothing there. I have no regrets.” https://t.co/iGTyH4atBx pic.twitter.com/0C0AWDkbfO
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 20, 2023
Biden “takes this very seriously”
At one point, when pressed about whether Biden actually said that he did not know documents were in his possession, Jean-Pierre underscored that Biden takes the classified document situation “very seriously.”
“[Biden] said he was surprised. I’m just going to leave that there and I’m going to refer you to the White House counsel’s office,” she replied to a reporter on Jan. 23.
“He takes this very seriously, that’s what I want the American people to understand,” Jean-Pierre said.
Avoiding questions
During a walk through the White House for the Lunar New Year festivity, first lady Jill Biden seemingly came to her husband’s defense when he was haggled by a reporter about the classified material ordeal. President Joe Biden declined to answer a question about whether he would allow the FBI to sweep his Rehoboth Beach home. Notably, the FBI search came a week later and yielded no additional classified documents.
Jean-Pierre has defended the White House’s public relations tact on the classified document scandal. She has stressed that the facts are constantly changing, and the situation is subject to an investigation.
“One of the reasons we try not to comment on this is because it’s changing — right,” she told reporters Thursday.
“When you have a legal matter, as you know — I know you understand this — things change and things move very, very quickly. And so, I’ve continued to provide the information that I have — I have had at the time, and I will continue to do that.”
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) have also initiated investigations into Biden’s classified documents.
Meanwhile, the Senate Intelligence Committee is feuding with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for access to the classified material seized.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Over 300 pages worth of classified documents were discovered at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last year. Trump denied wrongdoing, but Biden chided him during the time, wondering “how anyone could be that irresponsible.”
Several documents with classified markings were also found at former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana residence.
