George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley recently took to Twitter to lambast White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre over the Biden administration's purported refusal to answer questions regarding the discovery of classified documents found on the President's possession.
According to Turley, while they were claiming to be transparent, they were instead being 'transparently unwilling' to provide answers. Turley noted that nothing would prevent the White House from disclosing basic information about the scandal, as it would not undermine the Justice Department or the investigation in any way. Rather, he argued that their intent was merely to protect Biden himself as an individual.
...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
...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
In his previous comments on this matter, Turley had highlighted a few inconsistencies which suggest that it is unlikely for the President to have removed the documents inadvertently. He pointed out that since the documents were discovered in multiple locations, from his residence in Wilmington, Delaware, to his Penn-Biden Center in D.C., it can be assumed that some of them may have been moved more than once and thus could not have simply been taken by accident.
Additionally, he raised concerns about whether or not any of those documents had actually been used with regards to Biden's book which dealt with some of their underlying subjects, remarking that if this were indeed true then 'the inadvertent defense is not only shattered but could be viewed as an effort to deceive the public.'
Given all these points raised by Turley and considering how adamant Jean-Pierre has been in her refusal to give further details or expand upon what has already been said by other White House spokespersons, namely Biden’s alleged claim of having accidentally taken possession of these documents, one can't help but wonder why they are so hesitant in answering any questions related to this incident. Whether this reluctance is due a fear of potentially incriminating evidence or if there simply isn't enough evidence yet for them state something concrete remains unclear at this time. Whatever their motivations may be however one thing is certain...their 'transparency' does not extend far beyond their stubborn unwillingness to answer questions concerning this still unresolved scandal.