The White House insisted it had no personal access to last week’s FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property or the status of the ongoing Justice Department investigation, citing the DOJ’s “absolute independence” from politicization. There was no knowledge.
“We don’t intervene. We’re not given information. We don’t get involved,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl in an exclusive interview on Sunday. ”
Repeatedly pressed by Karl, Jean-Pierre has repeatedly declined to comment on any aspect of the federal investigation into Trump, including whether President Joe Biden is concerned about the national security implications of the highly classified materials. Federal agents said they found Trump in possession. (Through a spokesperson, Trump claimed the files were declassified.)
“I hear your question, but it would be unfair for me as press secretary to comment on it. It would be unfair for the president or anyone in the administration to comment on it,” said Jean-Pierre. “This is a law enforcement matter. And the Justice Department is going to proceed as they see fit.”
Responding to Republican Representative Alice Stefnik’s argument that “President Trump’s FBI raid is an outright abuse and an overabundance of his authority,” Jean-Pierre said this is “not true.”
“It’s not about politicizing anything. … I’ll remind my people on the other side that the FBI director [Christopher Wray] was appointed by the president’s predecessor. I’ll remind the people on the other side that When Merrick Garland was actually confirmed, it was a bipartisan fashion,” she said.
She told Karl that Biden had not even “discussed” the raid with law enforcement and that the White House was learning updates to the investigation through media reports.
Trump’s home search has partially stymied Biden’s latest legislative victory, as the House passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a major health care, climate and tax package, on Friday. Jean-Pierre hailed this and other recent laws – including medical aid for veterans and funding for domestic manufacturing – as “historic”.
But Carl presses on him: “How can you call this an ‘Inflation Reduction Act'”? He cited nonpartisan experts from the Congressional Budget Office, who estimated that the bill would have “negligible impact on inflation this year, and barely impact on inflation next year.”
Defending the IRA, Jean-Pierre said that when you “put it in its totality,” the law will “help reduce the deficit, which will help fight inflation.” The IRA aims to make drugs cheaper through Medicare and Insurance through the Affordable Care Act while raising taxes on large corporations and investing in clean energy.
The latest ABC News/Ipsos poll shows 37% of Americans approve of President Biden’s handling of the economy, while 69% say they think the economy is getting worse.
Asked how the White House is unhappy with signs of the economy’s recovery, such as a strong job market, low gas prices and the slow pace of historically high inflation, Jean-Pierre said, “We understand that the American What are people feeling at the moment.”
“Inflation has been the No. 1 priority for this president,” she said. “Reducing costs has been the No. 1 priority for this president.”
Karl also asked about the argument in some Democratic and pundit circles that Biden should not be reassured, despite his repeated assurances otherwise. Jean-Pierre said again, that he plans to seek a second term, but “we are not focused on 2024 either.