Reporters Bombard Jean-Pierre About Hunter Biden — And Whether He And President Biden ‘Are Speaking To Each Other’
Reporters bombarded White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about First Son Hunter Biden’s latest indictment — including whether or not President Joe Biden and his son are speaking to each other and what “emotional toll” this has taken.
Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss handed down a nine-count indictment against Hunter Biden Thursday on federal tax charges in a case that will be presided over by Trump-appointed Federal District Court Judge Mark Scarsi.
Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell accused the DOJ of selective prosecution, writing in a statement “Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought.”
On Friday, reporters tried to scream above the engine noise and distance as the president boarded Air Force One, but could not get the full question out.
At Friday’s White House press briefing aboard Air Force One — typically referred to as a “gaggle” — Jean-Pierre took questions after NSC spokesman John Kirby led off the Q&A, and several reporters tried to pry loose an answer about Hunter — with mixed results:
Q I have two questions on the Hunter Biden case.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q Any reaction to the — to what we saw last night — new charges? And then I have a follow-up.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Sure.
Look, I mean, the President has said this before, and he will continue to say, which is that he loves his son and supports him as he continues to rebuild his life.
I’m going to be really careful and not comment on this and refer you to Department of Justice or my colleagues at the White House Counsel.
But that’s what I’m going to — I’m not going to go beyond tell- — telling you all what the President has said over and over again. He’s proud of his son, and he is proud of him — proud of him building his life back up.
Q I know you won’t to speak to the — to the charges directly. But can you speak at least to the emotional toll the charges are having on the President?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I’m just not going to comment beyond what I just shared.
Q Are they speaking? Are they talking to each other?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I mean, I’m not going to — and this is — we’ve been pretty consistent on this. I’m not going to comment on private conversation that the President has with his family members.
Q One more on this. Only because you’ve said it before, I just want to re-up in — in light of these new charges. You’ve said before that the President would not pardon his son. Is that still the case?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Nothing has changed. That is still the case.
Watch above via The White House.
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