Biden reads statement on classified documents after snapping at the press
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President Joe Biden blasted the press Thursday night for hounding him with questions about the classified documents scandal involving his administration rather than climate change, then opened his folder to read a prepared statement.
Asked by a reporter if he “regrets” the confidential files debacle, Biden said he is “bothered” by the media grilling when “we have a serious problem here that we’re talking about.”
“The American people don’t quite understand why you don’t ask me questions about that,” he added just hours after a poll showed a majority of the country thought his handling of Obama administration materials was inappropriate.
Despite her animated reaction, he said he would respond and opened the first page of the folder on his easel and began to read.
‘Look, because we found a bunch of documents that were filed in the wrong place, we immediately turned them over to the archives and the Department of Justice. We are fully cooperating and hope this is resolved quickly. I think you’ll find there’s nothing there.
‘I don’t regret following what the lawyers have told me, what they want me to do, is exactly what we are doing. There is no there there.’
President Biden criticized the press when asked if he regretted not releasing classified documents from his time as vice president that had been discovered in his former DC office before the November election.
After sitting out the discovery of classified documents in a DC think tank for two months, Biden and his administration are now on the attack and trying to rebuff questions by insisting they did everything by the book.
A lawyer for Biden told the National Archives of files found at the Penn Biden Center just days before the November mid-election.
But it was only last week that CBS News first reported it.
The White House has since been condemned for its lack of transparency and Biden’s handling of files is now under investigation by a special prosecutor.
The president’s suggestion that Americans care about other issues was also challenged by a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday that said 60 percent of Americans think he acted inappropriately.
Most of the 1,380 US voters questioned in the poll acknowledged that the scandal is “serious” and should be investigated, but fewer than half believe it should lead to criminal charges.
Just 36 percent approve of the job Biden is doing and 53 percent disapprove.
Asked by a reporter if he had any regrets about the confidential files debacle, Biden said he is “bothered” by the media grilling when “we have a serious problem here that we’re talking about.”
The attack on the press came after Biden toured the collapsed Capitola Pier near Seacliff State Park in Santa Cruz and met with business owners whose stores were wrecked by a series of powerful storms.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who greeted Biden with a smile upon his arrival, outlined the 21 known deaths the state had experienced.
‘We had nine atmospheric rivers, an accumulation of stress – this conveyor belt going back 22 days, trillions of gallons of water. The State of California estimated over 1,400 heroic rescues, those lives that were saved did not make headlines,β Newsom said.
He also discussed the search for a missing five-year-old boy washed away by floodwaters in San Luis Obispo County, prompting a National Guard search.
“We won’t give up until we find Kyle,” he said.
Biden also referenced the missing child.
“The fact is Jill and we keep her in our prayers,” Biden said.
The two leaders shared camaraderie. Newsom opted not to run for president in 2024, and Biden is expected to announce his own candidacy soon.
At least some documents were found in Biden’s garage at his Wilmington, Delaware, home.
President Joe Biden toured storm damage in California with Gov. Gavin Newsom (left) and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), then criticized the press for asking about his documents.
“We won’t give up until we find Kyle,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, speaking of a missing 5-year-old boy washed away by floodwaters.
The couple went on a tour sparked by the storm at a Capitola pier
Newsom decided not to run for president in 2024
The White House has refused to release visitor logs to Biden’s lakefront home in Wilmington, Delaware (pictured), where he spends most of his weekends, and conducted most of the campaign 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
βOne of the things that I have admired for a long time, I think the American people admire, about this president is that there are few people with the empathy, the care and the compassion that he has. And you see it demonstrated in moments like this,β Newsom said.
“You and I need to stop taking these helicopter rides,” Biden quipped at one point, after also giving Newsom a warm smile upon arrival.
βIf anyone doubts that the climate is changing, then they must have been asleep for the last two years,β Biden said, referring to California’s years of drought, fires and severe storms.
Earlier, Biden saw a stack of damaged boards from the Capitola Pier.
He met with emergency workers and members of the military, and exchanged challenge coins with some. He visited Zelda’s on the Beach, a restaurant with sandbags stacked by the beach-side exit and construction materials inside an empty interior.
He also conducted an aerial survey of the widespread damage.
The state was hit with almost 12 inches of rain and snow between December 26 and January 17, with the snow accumulating in the Sierras.
A series of ‘atmospheric rivers’ (long bands of water vapor) strike in succession. Light rain and dry conditions are expected for the next few days.