‘I Recognize It’s A Personal Matter’: NBC News Reporter Ends Briefing With Question About Hunter Biden Arraignment

NBC News White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell ended a briefing by asking White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Hunter Biden’s court appearance, prefacing the question by noting it’s “a personal matter.”

Hunter Biden is being arraigned on Tuesday, weeks after Special Counsel Davis Weiss secured a grand jury indictment against Biden on three charges related to his purchase of a firearm. The appearance comes as ex-President Donald Trump is also in court for the fraud trial on the lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Shutdown politics dominated the topics at Monday’s White House press briefing, but O’Donnell capped off the proceeding by asking if Hunter’s arraignment might have an effect on President Joe Biden’s schedule — first noting the “personal” nature of the topice.

Jean-Pierre agreed with O’Donnell and declined to comment on the matter:

KELLY O’DONNELL: On another matter, the President’s son will be going to a court appearance tomorrow. We know previously that was believed to have been something that would resolve the case. A lot has transpired in between. Will this have any impact on the President’s schedule tomorrow or how he will be getting information about that?

I recognize it’s a personal matter, but will that court appearance have any impact on the President’s schedule?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I will say it’s — to continue to say it’s a personal matter. I’m just not going to get into it from here.

Thanks, everybody.

Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell has consistently argued that the charges are the result of political pressure from ex-President Donald Trump and others, that a prior diversion agreement is still in effect for the gun issue, that the charge had never been brought as a “standalone” by Weiss’s office, and the law has since been ruled unconstitutional by an appeals court.

Watch above via The White House.