Wait WHAT? Biden Spox Jean-Pierre Asked About Trump Holdover Probed For ‘Misrepresenting Himself As A Police Officer In Virginia’
A reporter asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for the status of a Trump holdover named Brett Blanton who, among other things, “may have been misrepresenting himself as a police officer in Virginia.”
At Monday’s press briefing, KJP took questions on a variety of issues, including this eyebrow-raiser about an appointee of former President Donald Trump who is one of the holdovers who was not fired when President Joe Biden took over:
Q Thank you. Last week, a White House official told me that the President and the White House was evaluating next steps regarding the Architect of the Capitol, who is actually a holdover Trump administration appointee who serves a 10-year term, I believe it is. There was an IG report that said that he was misusing — allegedly misusing government vehicles, may have been misrepresenting himself as a police officer in Virginia. Is there any update from the White House beyond evaluating the next steps regarding Mr. Blanton’s status?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. So we take the IG report seriously and the request from members of congress seriously as well and are evaluating next steps. And so, that’s what we’re currently looking at, at this time. We don’t have more at this moment to share, but we will certainly share any updates that may come up when we have them.
As the reporter noted, Blanton was appointed to a 10-year term by Trump, and is the subject of an inspector general report that includes:
In about a two-year period, Blanton’s vehicle racked up roughly 30,000 miles, though Blanton should, by policy, have only driven 10,000. This resulted in nearly $1,400 in wasted taxpayer funds, investigators found.
In one instance, investigators said Blanton drove a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee to a brewery in Leesburg, Virginia, and was involved in an accident, costing the Architect of the Capitol about $1,400. During the incident, Blanton claimed to be an “agent” and that the government would handle his insurance claim.
Blanton used the same Jeep to pursue a hit and run near his home after his daughter’s boyfriend’s car was struck. The police report obtained from that incident identified Blanton as an “off-duty DC police officer,” and the suspect in the incident claimed Blanton affirmed he was a law enforcement member.
Watch above via NBC News.
