WH Press Secretary: ‘We Do Not Interfere. We Do Not Get Briefed. We Do Not Get Involved’
(CNSNews.com) – White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, appearing on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopolous” on Sunday, said that the White House does not “interfere,” get briefed, or get involved with the Justice Department, and it has “complete independence.”
When asked how concerned President Biden is about the national security implications of highly classified materials being at Mar-a-Lago, the press secretary said she couldn’t speak on the investigation into former President Donald Trump.
“So, as you just stated, Jon, I cannot speak to that. It would be inappropriate to me to speak on that because the president has been very clear and unequivocal about this, is that, when it comes to law enforcement matters, investigation, the Department of Justice has complete, complete independence, and he has said that during his campaign. He has said that as president. We do not interfere. We do not get briefed. We do not get involved,” she said.
When ABC’s John Karl pointed out that he was asking about the national security implications, Jean-Pierre said, “No, I cannot comment on this. It is an investigation that is currently happening. I hear your question, but it would be inappropriate for me as the press secretary to comment on this. It would be inappropriate for any of us, including the president or anyone in the administration, to comment on this. This is a law enforcement matter, and the Department of Justice is going to move forward as they see fit.”
Karl played a clip of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), saying, “President Donald Trump is Joe Biden's most likeliest political opponent in 2024, and this is less than 100 days from critical midterm elections. The FBI raid of President Trump is a complete abuse and over-reach of its authority.”
When asked to comment on Stefanik’s comments and asked specifically how concerned Biden is “to see the investigation play out in the middle of a campaign, at least raising the appearance of a politicized Department of Justice,” the press secretary said, “So just to comment on what I just heard, this is not true. This is not something -- let me just step back even further.
“When the president, on January 7th, in 2021, when the president nominated Merrick Garland, he was very clear about this. He said that he believes in the rule of law. Merrick Garland would not be the president's lawyer; he would not be the vice president's lawyer. This is about the American people and doing what is right for the American people,” Jean-Pierre said.
“The Department of Justice, when it comes to law enforcement, is independent. This is what we believe, and this is what the president has said. This is not about politicizing anything. That is not true at all, and I would remind our -- our folks on the other side that the FBI director was appointed by the president's predecessor,” she said.
“I would remind the folks on the other side that when Merrick Garland was indeed confirmed, it was a bipartisan fashion. So, again, this is not what this is about. We do not interfere. We do not get briefed. The Department of Justice, again, when it comes to law enforcement matters, it is independent, complete independence. And I'm just not going to comment on that. None of us will, because we're going to let Merrick Garland speak for himself and his department,” the press secretary said.
When asked whether Biden has been briefed on any of this, Jean-Pierre said, “Not been briefed. We have not interfered.”
“Not discussed it at all?” Karl asked.
“Not discussed,” Jean-Pierre said. “I'm going to tell you, Jonathan, we have learned about all of this the same way the American people have learned about this, through public reports, through you -- your reporting and every -- every other reporter who has talked about this. That's how we have learned about -- about what is happening.”
JUDICIAL WATCH’S TEN MOST CORRUPT LIST
President Barack Obama: During his presidential campaign, President Obama promised to run an ethical and transparent administration. However, in his first year in office, the President has delivered corruption and secrecy, bringing Chicago-style political corruption to the White House. JUDICIAL WATCH
This is a double-standard by the FBI and DOJ: Trey Gowdy
President Biden implicated by Hunter's ties to Romanian tycoon: Report
IS JOE BIDEN THE MOST BRAZENLY CORRUPT PRESIDENT IN MODERN AMERICAN HISTORY?
HIS 50 YEARS OF BRIBES SUCKING AND RAKING IN THE BRIBES AND PAYOFFS THROUGH GAMER LAWYER HUNTER BIDEN:
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2022/06/parasite-gamer-lawyer-hunter-biden-of.html
It is unknown the extent to which Hunter used the secretive forms of communication or whether it will lead investigators to charge the president’s son with tax fraud, money laundering, and violation of lobbying laws. Hunter and his attorney are reportedly trying to settle the case out of court with the Justice Department.
Josh Hawley: FBI colluded with Big Tech to bury Hunter Biden story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnC0cxOBCfc
VIDEO
Ralph Nader: Biden's First Year Proves He Is Still a "Corporate Socialist" Beholden to Big Business
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jTIUtjkDss&t=28s
Hauser also didn’t like the prevalence of Big Law talent on the Department of Justice team, which signaled to him that the Biden administration could go soft on corporate malefactors. Alexander Nazaryan
The Biden family's corruption 'spans the globe': Schweizer
Watters: The Five (CRIME) Families of the Democrat Party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBpvvHethg0
HOW MANY ARE LAWYERS???
Schweizer: ‘It’s Going to Be Business as Usual’ for Hunter’s Dealings
Joe Biden, the corrupt, unaccomplished 47-year career politician, with a reputation of having been a proud segregationist, an unabashed plagiarist and liar, a resolute tale-teller, and a serial flip-flopper, is pretending to head up a radical social-democratic ticket for President of the United States that includes as his running mate the ambitious, disagreeable junior senator from California: Kamala Harris.
What's behind the Biden family's 'opulent' lifestyle?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OKIvDDNAC8
THE BIDEN CRIME FAMILY OF PARASITE LAWYERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
JAMES BIDEN RAKES IT IN!
Jesse Watters Primetime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt0iMhgtBmI
With no moral code, no center, nothing matters. You just read what’s in the teleprompter and hit the sack by 7:00 while your degenerate son collects piles of cash for the family until you’re free to do it on your own. All you have to do is what you’re told, your handlers and the media will take care of the rest. DEREK HUNTER
WHERE DID ALL OF GAMER LAWYER JOE BIDEN’S BIG BUCKS COME FROM?
video
Where did Biden's millions come from?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlS88MKI-DA
There it is. That's the issue. To begin, you have the corrupt family Biden. They've been scamming us and our system well for almost fifty years. The man is supposedly worth over 250 million dollars. How is this possible on his salary? It's not. So where did his wealth come from? Not from being a brilliant businessman. DAVID PRENTICE
Watters: The Five (CRIME) Families of the Democrat Party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBpvvHethg0
HOW MANY ARE LAWYERS???
Schweizer: ‘It’s Going to Be Business as Usual’ for Hunter’s Dealings
Joe Biden, the corrupt, unaccomplished 47-year career politician, with a reputation of having been a proud segregationist, an unabashed plagiarist and liar, a resolute tale-teller, and a serial flip-flopper, is pretending to head up a radical social-democratic ticket for President of the United States that includes as his running mate the ambitious, disagreeable junior senator from California: Kamala Harris.
Rep. Stefanik: ‘This Is the Same Agency Leadership That Protected Hillary Clinton, James Comey’ and Hunter Biden
(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said Friday that the same FBI leadership that conducted the raid on former President Donald Trump’s home also protected former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey and is continuing to protect the president’s son, Hunter Biden.
“House Republicans are committed to immediate oversight, accountability and a fulsome investigation to provide needed transparency and answers to the American people regarding Joe Biden and his administration’s weaponization of the Department of Justice and FBI against Joe Biden’s political opponent,” she said.
“President Donald Trump is Joe Biden’s most likeliest political opponent in 2024, and this is less than 100 days from critical midterm elections,” the congresswoman said at a press conference with GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee.
Stefanik called the raid “a complete abuse and overreach of its authority.”
“As the American people know, unfortunately, this is the same agency leadership that protected Hillary Clinton, James Comey, and continues to protect Hunter Biden, the same agency leadership that perpetrated the false Russia hoax for years, and it’s not just these national issues that have led to historic distrust among the American people. It’s local issues as well, like in my district, the FBI’s leadership overreach and politicization continues to occur,” she said.
“The FBI continues to stonewall a critical investigation. They’re stonewalling providing investigation and transparency into their role in the deadliest car crash in years where they mishandled a longtime FBI informant, and while some of you national reporters may not know this issue, for reporters in the media in my district this is one of the most important FBI issues that we’re facing in upstate New York,” the congresswoman said.
“The American people are smart, and they have had enough. It is unfortunately why there is a fundamental lack of trust in these agencies, and the American people deserve answers. A House Republican majority will leave no stone unturned when it comes to transparency and accountability into the brazen politicization of Joe Biden’s DOJ and FBI targeting their political opponents,” Stefanik said.
Meet the Democrats Who Could Replace Joe Biden
At this moment, in theory, (GAMER PIG LAWYER) Biden is going to run for re-election.
That being said, there is a significant chance he will not. He could decide on his own not to, Dr. Jill could be charged with elder abuse for allowing him to run again, he could lose the TV remote and get permanently lost in the White House while muttering about damn fancy stupid gadgets, the decimal point on all of his prescriptions could be moved one place to the right, he could suffer a grave injury in a game of "pull my finger" that goes horribly awry, or China could just finish the job and invade before the election. The list goes on and on.
With these myriad possibilities floating in the political ether, the few dozen Democrats around the country thinking about having a go at the top spot can hardly be blamed for engaging in just a bit of pre-planning. Can you really fault the kids for stopping by the lawyer's office first while they are driving dad to the home?
The majority of the people mentioned below are mostly in the "first impression" stage of meeting the national electorate. But much can be gleaned from even the glancing-blow candidacies now occurring, as those first impressions — even more so than policies and résumés — are crucial to creating the framework of a successful campaign. Even having a presence that, while not actively horrible, is still just a bit off-putting can sink a politician, especially in a close contest.
It is possible that (GAMER PIG LAWYER) Biden will somehow cobble together the wherewithal to run (at the very least — like John Gill in the original Star Trek Nazi planet episode — be cobbled together by power-hungry staffers and such). If that occurs, the candidates will have to think long and hard about running. Remember, not even Teddy Kennedy could take out Jimmy Carter. But someone will try — guaranteed.
In no particular order — because none is particularly special — here are the Democrat benchwarmers itching to move up to The Show:
- Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer — Midwest/Rust Belt base is helpful, but her "rules for thee, not for me" COVID activities and what should be a tough re-election campaign this fall are not helpful.
- Minnesota senator (GAMER PIG LAWYER) Amy Klobuchar — Relatively moderate and hung around long enough in 2020 to build a bit of credibility, but there is not much there there — policy or personality-wise — and reports of her "mean boss" ways are a problem.
- New Jersey governor Phil Murphy — His proximity to the media centers in New York is an asset, as is his homespun-ish appearance, but his very, very close re-election (it was not at all supposed to be that way) is a dampener.
- Massachusetts senator (GAMER PIG LAWYER) Elizabeth Warren — Raised her profile with a decent 2020 run, media darling, and somewhat politically astute (at least regarding her base). She will face the headwinds of being a shrill technocrat most recognizable to the public for being Fauxcahontas.
- Illinois governor (JUST A PIG) J.B. Pritzker — He's rich, so there's that, but he's the opposite of telegenic and is presiding over a state government that manages to be simultaneously so incredibly corrupt and disarmingly incompetent that even the national media may actually notice.
- New Jersey senator (GAMER PIG LAWYER) Cory Booker — Nah, not really. Seats on many, many corporate boards and foundations seem to be his future. Sorry.
- Colorado governor Jared Polis — An intriguing liberal/Libertarian mix who would have cross-over appeal in the general election, and he's gay, so that's politically neato. Challenges in his home state and his party's hyper-progressive primary voter base make his road to the nomination nearly impassable.
- California governor Gavin Newsom — The Golden Boy from the Golden State, though, unlike medieval alchemists, he has managed to turn gold into lead. Polished, perfunctory, and pomaded, his shtick appeals to people of a certain class and mindset and repels most others.
- Vice President (GAMER PIG LAWYER AND CLONE OF BIDEN) Kamala Harris — She should have listened to her former boyfriend, (GAMER PIG LAWYER) Willie Brown, and held out for attorney general. At least in that job fewer people would have noticed what an utter train wreck she is.
An aside on Gavin and Kamala — they are, politically, the same candidate. They came up in a system in California that custom-makes coddled candidates who can thrive there but nowhere else. Like hothouse orchids, they are un-transplantable and destined to raise and then fail to live up to the hopes of their supporters and well-wishers and craven flacks outside the state. For a more in-depth look at this phenomenon, feel free to click here.
That being said, Newsom is one of the most likely folks to challenge Biden if he does run for re-election. Life — good looks, other people's money, not too many questions asked — has always been easy for Gavin, so why, he thinks, would this be at al different?
Back to Murderers' Row:
- New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — The candidate who most keeps Republicans up at night — not in that way (despite her claims of being a siren/victim), but a good way nonetheless. If she wrangled the Democratic nod, it is quite possible that any Republican candidate could be the first person since George Washington to get every single Electoral College vote (and I'm not even forgetting about D.C.). But Republicans will have to wait for that delight, because she'll be only 34 in 2024.
- North Carolina governor Roy Cooper — Moderate, white, straight, Southern, male ice hockey fan? Yeah, good luck with that.
- (GAMER PIG LAWYER) Hilary Rodham Clinton (no job title needed) — Ah, the woman scorned. Instant base, name recognition that is off the charts, access to boatloads of cash, and a burning desire to one-up Bill. Downsides? To start, she managed to lose to both Donald Trump and Barack Obama and nearly lost to Bernie Sanders — die-hard Democrats might notice that. Add that grisly track record to her many character and policy flaws, and even she might be in trouble. But she would still run, at the very least to jumpstart the fundraising grift of the family foundation (seems all those good-hearted billionaire oligarchs stopped giving after she stopped running — who'da thunk it?).
- Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg — White, but gay, so that won't hurt him too much. A technocrat, a beta male, unprepossessing. Women like him for his nesting tendencies, and he has not obviously completely blowtorched his current gig (such as it is). He was a bit of a "shiny new thing" in 2020 — not exactly true anymore, but he's already beating Biden in the polling, so who knows? Not likely to run against Biden, but rather more likely to be the person chosen by the powers-that-be to replace him.
Oh, there are others — Tom Steyer (skin crawl), Tulsi Gabbard (is she still a Democrat?), Andrew Yang (definitely not still a Democrat), Eric "The Spy Who Loved Me" Swalwell, Gina Raimondo (if you don't live in Rhode Island or follow the Commerce Department on Instagram, you'll have to look that one up), greener-than thou Jay Inslee, etc. are possibly lurking but have no hope of making an impact.
But there are two others whom you will know by their first names alone — Michelle and Oprah. They might be the strongest candidates the Democrats have. God help us all, they would be tough to beat.
Thomas Buckley is the former mayor of Lake Elsinore and a former newspaper reporter. He is currently the operator of a small communications and planning consultancy and can be reached directly at planbuckley@gmail.com. You can read more of his work at https://thomas699.substack.com.
Image via Flickr, public domain.
The Kamala Conundrum
Political news rarely gets much grimmer than it did for Joe Biden on July 26, when he was greeted by a surprise poll showing that, were he to run again in a contested primary in New Hampshire, he might command less than one-fifth of the vote. It was a far-fetched hypothetical — the likes of Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren won’t challenge him if he runs for reelection — but the dearth of support for a sitting president was still galling. And yet, improbably, the news was even worse for his presumptive heir: Kamala Harris was all the way down in the single digits.
The vice-presidency is, by definition, a nearly impossible job. There’s the prestige and the “one heartbeat away” of it all but few defined responsibilities and political pitfalls at every turn. Eighteen months in, thanks to a combination of Biden’s age and unpopularity, the lingering pandemic and punishing inflation, a relentless opposition, and — most visibly — her own struggles to communicate a satisfactory role for herself, Harris has reached an unparalleled low point.
“There’s a cruel irony to the thing, which is you are almost as big a target as the president for the opposition and critics, but by definition you need to keep a lower profile because no one wants to upstage the boss, and you don’t ever want to be in a position where you’re saying anything even a millimeter differently,” said a veteran operative who has worked with three Democratic vice-presidents. Harris is partly a victim of the enormous expectations placed on her when Biden thought he was selecting the future leader of a vibrant, thriving post-Trump Democratic Party. And if you ask some of her supporters, she may be one of the few things keeping the Biden administration’s languishing popularity barely afloat, leaving Democrats with a conundrum: a successor-in-waiting who is just as disliked as the standard-bearer but is also exactly as irreplaceable.
Harris is the most scrutinized vice-president in memory, and those around her have no doubt her coverage has been heavily warped by sexism and racism. Viewed from the most sympathetic perspective, the Harris who emerged as the administration’s foremost advocate of abortion rights this summer has hit her stride. She’s sat for high-profile interviews and condemned Republicans in speeches. She’s met with state legislators facing the most immediate threats, as in Indiana and Florida, and campaigned in states where the midterms will determine the fate of legal abortion, as in Pennsylvania. Her role now resembles one Biden envisioned for her in the summer of 2020 — aggressive partisan warrior selling the administration’s popular line.
But that was a different political universe, and it took one and a half uncomfortable years for her set of skills to align with the administration’s strategic needs. Harris set up her office with the instruction that maintaining close ties to the president was a priority, believing that to be a guarantee of internal influence. That proved unexpectedly complex, partly owing to their different operating styles. Whereas Biden has been surrounded by a core of the same staffers for decades, Harris’s office has seen enough turnover to make it a much-whispered-about story line in Washington and beyond. She has replaced her chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, communications director, spokeswoman, national security adviser, and speechwriter (twice), and her longest-serving senior aide, domestic-policy adviser Rohini Kosoglu, will depart this summer. Though Biden and Harris get along and meet regularly, it is rarely in the kind of one-on-one setting like the lunches that famously formed the cornerstone of Biden’s relationship with Barack Obama.
Harris has leaned on a rotating group of outside counselors. This includes some elected officials, such as Representative Barbara Lee, and others in the administration, such as Housing Secretary Marcia Fudge, but also longtime party operatives including Minyon Moore, the Reverend Leah Daughtry, and EMILY’s List leader Laphonza Butler as well as — occasionally — Hollywood power agent Bryan Lourd. She has also kept in sporadic touch with Hillary Clinton. But Harris’s sister, policy expert Maya Harris, is known to be her closest confidante, though she has no formal role in the White House.
The vice-president’s thankless portfolio is more to blame for her slip in political traction than staff turnover. Her popularity started sinking when she first visited Central America and appeared dismissive of a suggestion that she visit the border. Behind the scenes, she was worried the assignment to take on the migrant crisis was a clear political loser. When critics latched on to her admonition to would-be migrants — “Do not come” — her frustration grew, as this was the administration line. Later, she remained silent at a tense meeting with Biden, letting other officials speak when he asked for updates. Afterward, she told aides to underscore that she was focused on the origins of migration, not the border itself. Her other top priority — voting rights — was no less publicly frustrating when the administration’s preferred legislation predictably failed in the split Senate. Some close to her wonder why she didn’t muscle her way into leading more popular projects: implementation of the COVID-relief-bill spending or, later, the infrastructure package.
Most exasperating to her advocates, however, have been the questions about her preparedness for the top job, an especially sensitive line of inquiry ever since the 79-year-old Biden contracted COVID earlier in July. The concern comes mostly from her occasionally stumbling responses to journalists. She told a CBS interviewer who asked if Democrats had erred in not codifying Roe v. Wade into law, “I think that, to be very honest with you, I — I do believe that we should have rightly believed, but we certainly believe, that certain issues are just settled. Certain issues are just settled.” It was one genuinely cringeworthy moment in a straightforward interview, but it was shared far and wide, especially on the left. “Often Democrats are their own worst fucking enemies,” said Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher. “Democrats will stab each other up at the drop of a dime.”
None of it has dimmed the confidence of Harris’s closest aides that she can regain her political footing by traveling more, and her new staff has suggested she take advantage of interviews with celebrities and influencers to reach nonpolitically focused audiences. Plenty of supporters also believe the administration would be in worse shape if not for her sustained popularity with Black women in particular — Democrats’ most reliable voting base and the group that won Biden the nomination in 2020. Belcher recently found that this group gave Harris a “thermometer rating” in the 70s, meaning they viewed her far more warmly than most politicians. A Fox News poll had her overall approval rating just below 40 percent but as high as 65 percent among Black voters.
Top party donors have privately worried to close Obama allies that they’re skeptical of Harris’s prospects as a presidential candidate, citing the implosion of her 2020 campaign and her struggles as VP. Jockeying from other potential competitors, like frenemy Gavin Newsom, suggests that few would defer to her if Biden retired. Yet Harris’s strength among the party’s most influential voters nonetheless puts her in clear pole position.
Harris is careful not to be seen as overtly angling for the presidency. But it was no coincidence that this summer she visited the early-voting and often decisive state of South Carolina, in which Black voters make up most of the primary electorate.
For now, anything beyond her role as a booster for Biden is moot while the president clings to the notion that only he can beat Trump and that he therefore must run again. But that posture may be sustainable for only so long. Just hours after the New Hampshire poll dropped, the cloud over the White House darkened further. A new CNN survey found the number of Democrats prepared to turn the page on Biden had risen. Now it’s three out of every four.
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