Incredibly, Peter Doocy of Fox asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at a briefing this week about any potential precedent for a candidate running for president even after “FBI agents search their sock drawer.” Doocy was referring — in deceptive terms — to Biden and insisted he was sincere in acting like he wasn’t making the connection between his query and the exact circumstances of Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Significant differences also remain between the situations involving Biden and Trump. Although classified materials were recovered from both, there’s still no indication of Biden or close associates of his obstructing the handling of the investigation, which is in sharp contrast to the extensive obstruction in which the Trump team has engaged, although it’s still up to prosecutors and a potential jury and judge to decide on whether that meets the legal standards for the offense. In contrast to Mar-a-Lago, agents searched a Biden residence without a warrant, which signifies further — and more effective — cooperation. It didn’t seem Doocy was convinced — although he didn’t even acknowledge the Trump situation, let alone that conservatives are largely handling it in much more dismissive terms than Biden’s case.
“Is there a precedent for people running for President after FBI agents search their sock drawer?” Doocy asked. “It sounds like you already know that — the answer to that question,” the press secretary eventually replied. Remarkably, Doocy claimed he didn’t actually know the answer, according to a transcript of the briefing made available by the White House. “Here’s what the President is going to focus on,” Jean-Pierre added. “He’s going to focus on continuing to deliver for the American people. That’s his focus. That’s what he focuses on every day. That’s what he’s been focusing on the last two years. And nothing is going to change that.”
Doocy subsequently asked Jean-Pierre if Biden was “involved in a cover-up,” citing suggestions that such was possible from House Oversight Committee chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who also said on Fox with host Maria Bartiromo the recovery of the documents somehow suggested a connection to “influence peddling” by the Biden family, as though there was potentially an intentional conspiracy unfolding — and possibly improper access provided. There’s zero apparent evidence for this. “We have been very clear here, from this administration,” Jean-Pierre added Monday to Doocy. “The President has been very clear that he takes this very seriously, when it comes to — that — when it comes to classified information, when it comes to classified documents. And that his team has been — has been fully cooperative with this legal matter.”
Elsewhere, Trump has suggested that federal authorities haven’t even been very interested in examining the circumstances of the documents recovered from locations associated with Biden, which is just objectively ridiculous. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel! Watch some clips from the briefing below:
"Is President Biden involved in a cover up?" — Peter Doocy pic.twitter.com/T9tMpMJpRv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 23, 2023
