Reporters Said to Be Fuming Over 'Evasive' Handling of Biden Classified Docs Row by WH Press Sec

Freshly-surfaced findings in January revealed that caches of documents dating back to his tenure as vice president had been discovered by Joe Biden aides on four separate occasions, with a hue and cry erupting and a Special Counsel investigation launched.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s efforts to dodge all questions regarding the Biden classified documents row have left the press corps grumbling, according to US media.

Jean-Pierre is ostensibly criticized by WH news reporters for being exceptionally evasive amid the ongoing Special Counsel investigation, led by former DoJ official Robert Hur, into discovered classified documents from Joe Biden's days as vice president. The sensitive papers were unearthed at his Wilmington, Delaware home in early January, in addition to files found in November 2022 at the Penn Biden Center, a Washington-based think tank.

“She is arguably the least effective White House press secretary of the television era,” one correspondent was cited as complaining.

The press secretary’s regular briefings in front of a gaggle of reporters have offered them very little to chew on, they declared, according to a US report.

It was only on January 9, 2023 that the White House publicly acknowledged the discovery of the first batch of classified documents by Biden's attorneys on November 2 - six days before the midterm elections - at the Penn Biden Center, a Washington-based think tank with the University of Pennsylvania. Subsequent caches were then come across at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware. Finally, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed former DoJ official Robert Hur as Special Counsel on January 12 to handle the investigation.

Furthermore, when fresh classified documents were recovered at Biden’s home in Delaware, Jean-Pierre ​failed to notify the press corps, the media report added. The fact that Jean-Pierre has refused to allow officials from the Justice Department or White House Counsel’s office face a grilling before reporters has ostensibly left them railing against her.

"You just get the feeling that you’re wasting your time and whatever is in front of her in the binder is all she is going to say, no matter how many times you ask the question... It’s just a painful waste of time," another member of the press was quoted as protesting.

The Joe Biden administration was accused of deliberately creating an information blackout by one journalist on January 18, as Jean-Pierre tried to quell a line of questioning.

“I just commented. I just commented... We're moving on…. I already answered your question,” Jean-Pierre told one of the indignant reporters as she redirected the questions to the Justice Department. “

As some reporters questioned whether the WH press secretary was "being directed by someone to not be forthcoming on this issue," the administration has insisted Jean-Pierre was acting in a manner that’s consistent with “prior White House press secretaries from both parties who have responsibly respected ongoing DOJ investigations and referred to the relevant authorities."