George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley ripped into White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, claiming that the only thing President Joe Biden’s administration was actually “transparent” about was their abject unwillingness “to answer questions.”
Turley laid out his thoughts in a brief thread on Twitter after Friday’s briefing, saying that the White House was refusing to answer questions even when they didn’t have to, claiming they were doing so in order to protect the investigation into classified documents found in Biden’s possession.
“It is increasingly painful to watch Karine Jean-Pierre as she argues that they have been ‘transparent’ by being transparently unwilling to answer any questions,” Turley began.
…Nothing prevents the White House from answering basic questions about the scandal. It will not undermine the Justice Department for the White House to confirm the President's position and recollection. The silence protects the President not the investigation…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 13, 2023
“Nothing prevents the White House from answering basic questions about the scandal. It will not undermine the Justice Department for the White House to confirm the President’s position and recollection,” Turley continued, adding that the stonewalling appeared to be designed to protect Biden rather than protecting the integrity of the investigation.
Turley then pointed out the fact that the White House had already asserted a defense, saying that Biden had removed the classified documents “inadvertently,” and argued that there was no reason Jean-Pierre could not confirm that sentiment — or elaborate on how that could have happened — in press briefings.
…I can understand the desire of a criminal defense attorney for Biden to remain silent. However, the refusal to answer basic questions is not to protect the "independence of the Justice Department" or the investigation. It meant to protect the President as an individual.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 13, 2023
“I can understand the desire of a criminal defense attorney for Biden to remain silent. However, the refusal to answer basic questions is not to protect the ‘independence of the Justice Department’ or the investigation. It meant to protect the President as an individual,” Turley concluded.
Turley raised questions earlier in the week about the classified documents and the president’s apparent defense, saying that some of the facts thus far did not line up with the accidental removal of the documents — which were found in multiple locations, from the Penn-Biden Center in Washington, D.C., to his Wilmington, Delaware, home and garage.
“The ‘inadvertent’ defense has its dangers. If Biden worked off any of these documents for his book (which dealt with some of the underlying subjects), the inadvertent defense is not only shattered but could be viewed as an effort to deceive the public,” Turley said, adding that the documents making it to multiple locations also suggested that some of them may have been moved more than once.
