Mayorkas Dodges Fox News Reporter’s Questions About Afghan Arrested Over Election Day Terror Plot
'How do you not have those answers prepared?'
Fox News reporter traps woefully unprepared KJP with basic questions contradicting Biden narrative on border crisis
Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich helped expose on Friday the Biden administration's hypocrisy on the border crisis.
In January, the Supreme Court ruled that Border Patrol agents could cut through razor wire that Texas officials installed to encourage migrants not to enter the U.S. illegally. Government official had argued the barrier prevented Border Patrol agents from acting in emergency situations.
But Border Patrol official have not yet removed the razor wire, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was woefully unprepared to answer questions about that inconvenient fact.
"Is the administration coming around to the idea that physical border barriers work?" Heinrich asked Jean-Pierre.
"Can you say more? What do you mean? Where's this coming from?" the press secretary responded.
"Well, it’s been six weeks since you guys won the Supreme Court case that would have allowed you to remove razor wire at the Texas border that you guys argued there’s an emergency, immediate need to take down. But it's still up. So DHS hasn’t touched it," Heinrich explained. "Why is it still up?"
Cornered with the truth, Jean-Pierre refused to answer the question. And despite having pontificated from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room lectern about the razor wire before, Jean-Pierre told Heinrich to speak with Homeland Security if she wanted an answer.
— (@)
Unfortunately for Jean-Pierre, the Fox News reporter was not finished.
In a follow-up question, Heinrich drilled down on President Joe Biden's narrative that he cannot take executive action to stymie the migrant crisis. Biden, in fact, has argued that his hands are tied and any solution requires Congress to act.
But, as Heinrich pointed out, Biden "took 94 or so executive actions in his first 100 days that largely loosened immigration policy."
"So, why doesn't the president act like he said it's time to do and start undoing some of those policies that he put in place right when he got into office?" Heinrich asked.
Completely defeated, Jean-Pierre responded by invoking her tried-and-(not)-true talking points: Biden has taken action "over and over and over again," but Republicans are really to blame for the border crisis growing completely out of control.
"You've used executive orders when you wanted to," Heinrich fact-checked.
Jean-Pierre, however, refused to concede defeat and continued to blame "shameful" Republicans and Congress for a problem that flourished when Biden rescinded Trump-era immigration policies.
"But in the meantime, while he's shaming people for not acting, he is also not acting," Heinrich pointed out.
"I am so sorry. That is so false. He has taken action. He has taken action," Jean-Pierre claimed, unable to cite any such "action."
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KJP fumbles hard when Fox News reporter confronts — and then fact-checks — her false narrative about recent migrant deaths
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stuck to the narrative — not the facts — the Biden administration parroted after three migrants drowned last Friday while attempting to cross the Rio Grande.
After the tragedy, the Biden administration rushed to blame Texas for the incident. Homeland Security, for example, accused Texas National Guard soldiers of having "physically barred" Border Patrol agents from responding to migrants in distress. The White House, on the other hand, suggested the migrants could have been saved had Texas soldiers not "blocked U.S. Border Patrol from attempting to provide emergency assistance."
But the Justice Department admitted in a filing to the Supreme Court on Monday that the migrants — two children and an adult woman — had already drowned when Mexican officials alerted Border Patrol agents of the tragic deaths. In fact, they had been dead for at least one hour.
On Wednesday, Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich confronted Jean-Pierre over the White House's dishonest narrative. She asked, "Will the administration amend its separate statement that implied that Texas officials were responsible for the deaths of those three migrants when, in fact, they had nothing to do with it?"
"They had already been dead for an hour by the time Mexico told anyone in the U.S. about it, and the administration admitted as much in their court filing," Heinrich noted. "But the statement from the White House implies that Texas was responsible, and a number of outlets were forced to issue corrections and editor's notes because of that White House statement."
The falsehood exposed, Jean-Pierre responded by urging Heinrich to be "sensitive" because of the "devastating situation." But then she refused to acknowledge the truth after repeatedly stumbling over her thoughts.
"Our statement is consistent with DOJ’s filing. As the DOJ filing said, there was an ongoing emergency situation that Border Patrol was blocked from accessing. There were other migrants in the water as well," she responded.
"That was separate, though. The ongoing emergency situation was separate," Heinrich fact-checked.
— (@)
The Fox News reporter then read Jean-Pierre the White House statement — which said that "Texas officials blocked U.S. Border Patrol from attempting to provide emergency assistance" — but the press secretary simply restated her earlier point.
"There were other migrants in the water as well," she said.
"Then why wasn't that included in the statement?" Heinrich shot back.
And when Heinrich asked if the statement was referring to those "other migrants" — which it clearly was not because it was released in direct response to the drownings — Jean-Pierre shut down questioning and referred additional questions to the DOJ.
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Fox News reporter brings out the big guns to expose WH's double standard after Florida Democrats cancel presidential primary
Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich cornered the White House on Monday over its own double standard on accusations of voter suppression.
At the daily press briefing, Heinrich reminded White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre of previous statements the Biden administration has made about the issue. For example, President Joe Biden accused Georgia of passing new "Jim Crow" laws when it passed a law in 2021 strengthening election security, and Jean-Pierre herself claimed voter suppression occurred in Georgia last December when, in reality, there was record turnout.
"Does the White House still believe that that was true?" Heinrich asked.
"I don’t have anything else to add from what I stated last time," Jean-Pierre answered.
That's when Heinrich pulled out the big guns, invoking the Florida Democratic Party's decision to scrap its presidential primary despite the fact that there are Florida Democrats interested in casting a primary vote for a Democratic presidential candidate other than Biden.
"Does the Florida party, then, effectively canceling the Democratic primary also constitute voter suppression?" Heinrich asked.
"I can’t speak to that," the press secretary responded.
"Why not?" Heinrich pressed.
But each time Jean-Pierre refused to address the question and declined to explain why she did not want to answer it.
.@JacquiHeinrich: So, does the Florida Party, then effectively canceling the Democratic primary also constitute voter suppression?
KJP: I can't speak to that.
Heinrich: Why not?
KJP: You have to speak to the campaign or the DNC.
Heinrich: Does — does the White House have… pic.twitter.com/r2GTrr5YNV
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 4, 2023
The Florida Democratic presidential primary is essentially canceled after the party only submitted Biden's name for its 2024 primary ballot.
There are, however, several other Democrats campaigning against the president, including Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), Marianne Williamson, and Cenk Uygur. They are long-shot candidates at best, but they're running to give voters an alternative option. By denying them a spot on the primary ballot, the Florida Democratic Party is essentially denying Democratic voters the opportunity to use the ballot box to support other Democrats.
The Florida Democratic Party, for its part, is standing by the decision. Party officials claim they handled the balloting process by the book and allowing candidates other than Biden to be added to the ballot now would be "anti-democratic."
12/04/23: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Jake Sullivanwww.youtube.com
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Fox News reporter exposes the White House's dishonesty when confronted about PGA-LIV Golf merger
Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich proved Wednesday how the White House's response to the PGA-LIV Golf merger is wholly inconsistent with previous stances.
What is the WH saying?
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fielded questions about the merger from four different reporters on Wednesday. Each time, she refused to address the merger or provide Biden's response to it.
"We've been very clear, when it comes to mergers, when it comes to a private entity, we do not comment," she said.
Later in the briefing, Heinrich pressed Jean-Pierre on her assertion. First, Heinrich pointed to a Wall Street Journal article that suggested the merger is about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "thumbing his nose" at Biden.
"Doesn’t that risk making the president look weak if there’s no comment?" Heinrich asked.
Jean-Pierre denied that Biden looks weak by refusing to comment publicly about the merger, arguing the White House is simply being consistent in not commenting on "a private merger — a company's merger, a private entity." She then abruptly moved on and ignored Heinrich's follow-up questions when the reporter continued to press the issue.
06/07/23: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre www.youtube.com
What did Heinrich later explain?
Responding to the exchange on "Special Report," Heinrich explained how Jean-Pierre's position is not consistent.
In fact, the White House is happy to comment on developments in private business when it suits its political motives. But in this instance, it appears the White House is refusing to broach the merger because of larger political implications involving Saudi Arabia.
"It's difficult to understand the administration's justification because they have commented on private entity, big business moves before, like with Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter and also JPMorgan's purchase of First Republic Bank," Heinrich explained.
Just last month, in fact, Jean-Pierre commented on and defended the JPMorgan Chase's acquisition of First Republic Bank. Meanwhile, the White House routinely answered questions about Musk's acquisition of Twitter and the implications thereof.
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Jean-Pierre shows her displeasure when reporter rejects her excuse on Biden's 'cheat sheet' controversy
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre showed her displeasure on Thursday when a reporter refused to buy her claims about President Joe Biden's press conference "cheat sheet."
What is the background?
At a press conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday, a photographer captured an image of a card Biden held in his hand, telling him which reporters to call on and, seemingly, providing the president with advance knowledge of the questions that the pre-selected reporters would ask.
The image showed that Los Angeles Times reporter Courtney Subramanian had been selected to ask the first question. The question she asked at the press conference was not word-for-word identical to what Biden had on his card, but the content of the question was the same.
What did KJP say?
In response to questions from Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, Jean-Pierre denied the question was submitted to the White House in advance, instead claiming the White House simply anticipated the question Subramanian would ask.
"We do not have specific questions in advance," Jean-Pierre said, explaining Subramanian was chosen to ask a question because of the number of Koreans who live in California.
But reporter Jon Decker was not buying the explanation.
"Is it your contention that the question on the so-called cheat sheet was not similar to the question that was asked at the press conference?" he interjected.
Jean-Pierre, however, refused to answer the question. She accused Decker of interrupting Heinrich, though the Fox News reporter was not speaking at the time Decker asked his question. In fact, it appeared that Jean-Pierre was about to call on another reporter when Decker asked his question.
04/27/23: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre www.youtube.com
After Heinrich asked two more questions, Jean-Pierre said she would take a question from the back of the press room — Decker sits toward the front — and he called her out on it.
"You literally just told me you would come back to me," he said.
Accusing Decker of "screaming," Jean-Pierre responded, "but now we’re running out of time." She never called on Decker and she did not answer his question, either directly or in substance.
What did the LA Times say?
The Los Angeles Times denied that Subramanian submitted her question in advance of the press conference.
"Our reporter did not submit any questions in advance of the Q&A with President Biden. Courtney Subramanian covers the White House for the Los Angeles Times. As such, she is in regular contact with the White House press office seeking information for her reporting. You would have to ask the White House who prepared the document for the president and why they included that question," said Hillary Manning, VP of communications for the LA Times.
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Fox News reporter uses facts to call out Biden's falsehoods on economy — then press sec abruptly stops questioning
Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich on Monday directly called out the Biden administration's repeated falsehoods about the economy.
What is the background?
As election season heated up, President Joe Biden has claimed repeatedly that his policies have resulted in record deficit reduction and a record number of jobs created.
But the truth is that deficit reduction and job creation are a result of the economy returning to pre-pandemic normalcy.
Regarding deficit reduction, the CBO has explained:
CBO projects that the federal budget deficit will shrink to $1.0 trillion in 2022 (it was $2.8 trillion last year) and that the annual shortfall would average $1.6 trillion from 2023 to 2032. The deficit continues to decrease as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) next year as spending related to the coronavirus pandemic wanes ...
Meanwhile, despite Biden's claim that he has created 10 million jobs, that job growth is related to people returning to the workforce. Those are not newly created jobs.
In fact, as of the latest jobs report, there are only 514,000 more jobs today than in February 2020 before the pandemic.
What did Heinrich say?
After pointing out the facts — that Biden has neither lowered the deficit nor created millions of jobs — Heinrich asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre why Americans should take Biden seriously.
"How are people supposed to take this kind of messaging, on their most important issue, seriously when some of this feels like smoke and mirrors?" she asked.
Jean-Pierre, however, did not answer Heinrich's question, but instead stumped for Biden and Democrats. She claimed the American Rescue Plan (which economists agree overheated the economy) "put us in a place where the economy turned back on" and attacked Republicans for opposing Biden's inflationary agenda.
Jean-Pierre even claimed, despite the CBO's own explanation, that Biden's policies are responsible for deficit reduction.
"None of his programs have actually reduced the deficit," Heinrich fact-checked. "It just happened on its own."
Oddly, Jean-Pierre repeated her claims, though she cited zero evidence, and then attacked Republicans for passing tax reform five years ago.
"What is one thing [Biden] did that reduced the deficit?" Heinrich pressed.
And with that, Jean-Pierre abruptly shut down Heinrich's questioning and moved on to the next reporter.
10/24/22: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre youtu.be
Reporter exposes the double standard Biden is using as legal justification for student loan debt plan: 'How is this a national emergency?'
The White House was confronted Thursday over the appearance that the Biden administration has exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to enact its political agenda.
What is the background?
As part of President Joe Biden's plan to unilaterally forgive student loan debt, the Biden administration disclosed what it believes is the legal authority to take such action.
That authority, according to a five-page legal memorandum from the Education Department, stems from a post-9/11 law known as the HEROES Act of 2003.
The memorandum claims the nearly two-decade-old law gives the Biden administration "broad authority to grant relief from student loan requirements during specific periods (a war, other military operation, or national emergency, such as the present COVID-19 pandemic) and for specific purposes (including to address the financial harms of such a war, other military operation, or emergency)."
Thus Biden is exploiting the supposed national emergency stemming from the pandemic as the legal justification for sweeping debt forgiveness.
What happened Thursday?
At the White House press briefing, Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich exposed a double standard apparently being used by the Biden administration, pointing out that administration officials have argued in court that the pandemic is over.
"I want to ask about the legal basis for canceling student debt," Heinrich began. "The HEROES Act hinges on student debt cancellation being tied to the pandemic and that being a national emergency. But the administration argued in court that the pandemic is over at the southern border to lift Title 42. It’s so over that the government is going to stop buying vaccines in the fall and shift to the private sector.
"So, how is this a national emergency? How is COVID a national emergency when it comes to student debt?" she asked.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed the administration is justified in now arguing the pandemic remains a national emergency because when the moratorium on student loan payments ends months from now, people will "suffer."
"There's gonna be some folks who are going to have a hard time," Jean-Pierre argued.
"Because of the economy?" Heinrich fired back.
Jean-Pierre responded, "Because they're just in a different bracket. They've probably had a hard time before."
08/25/22: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre youtu.be
Heinrich then cornered Jean-Pierre over another narrative the Biden administration pushes, namely the economy is booming and in great shape because of Biden.
Thus, if the economy is great, "Why are those appropriate conditions to forgive student debt?" Heinrich asked.
In response, Jean-Pierre argued that "both can be true. It's not one or the other."
The White House has not yet said how much Biden's plan will cost taxpayers or how it will be financed. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the plan will cost roughly $500 billion.
Reporter grills Psaki over admin refusing to stop buying Russian oil: 'Aren’t we financing the war?'
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was confronted Thursday over continued American dependence on Russian oil, which seemingly contradicts sanctions meant to deter Russia from continuing its war in Ukraine.
The Biden administration has repeatedly said that cutting off Russian oil imports will not be part of American sanctions against Moscow.
What happened?
During the daily press briefing, Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich asked Psaki plainly whether Americans are helping Russia finance its war against Ukraine by continuing to buy Russian oil.
"As long as we’re buying Russian oil, though, aren’t we financing the war?" Heinrich asked.
In response, Psaki downplayed the seriousness of the issue and said what matters is minimizing the impact of sanctions on Americans.
"Well, Jacqui, again, it’s only about 10% of what we’re importing," she said. "I’ve not made any announcement about any decision on that front, but our objective here and our focus is making sure that any step we take maximizes the impact on President Putin and minimizes it on the American people. And anyone who’s calling for an end to the carve-out should be clear that that would raise prices."
According to the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, the U.S. imported about 700,000 barrels of crude oil and other petroleum products from Russia per day on average in 2021.
That means the U.S. sends tens of millions of dollars to Russia each day, and by continuing to buy Russian oil, American tax dollars will undoubtedly help Putin wage his war to take over Ukraine.
'We Can Talk About It More Tomorrow When You Learn More': Psaki Has Tense Exchange With Fox Reporter www.youtube.com
Earlier in the press briefing, Heinrich grilled Psaki over America's energy problems, invoking several ways to increase American energy production and reduce reliance on Russia. But she was dismissed by Psaki.
First, Heinrich noted how President Joe Biden wants to increase domestic production of goods to reduce inflation. "Why not apply the same logic to energy and increase domestic production here?" Heinrich asked.
Psaki deflected and regurgitated an administration talking point that oil companies are not using 9,000 already-approved oil leases, thus dismissing the Biden administration's hostile posture toward fossil fuels.
"I would point that question to them," Psaki said of oil companies. "And we can talk about it more tomorrow when you learn more."
When Heinrich asked about the Keystone XL pipeline, which Biden canceled, Psaki correctly noted how the pipeline was never operational and would require years of work before it could benefit Americans.
When Psaki tried to positively spin the Biden administration's decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Heinrich quickly fact-checked her, noting how previous releases have not really lowered gas prices.
Then Psaki pushed "clean energy," something that would not solve the current growing energy problem and skyrocketing gas prices.
"What we can do over time and what this is a reminder of, in the president’s view, is our need to reduce our reliance on oil," Psaki said. "The Europeans need to do that; we need to do that. If we do more to invest in clean energy, more to invest in other sources of energy, that’s exactly what we can do to prevent this from happening in the future."
Reporter grills WH about Durham revelations, but spox refuses to address them: 'My answer is not going to change'
The White House refused Monday to address revelations stemming from special counsel John Durham's latest filing.
During Monday's press briefing, Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich repeatedly pressed White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about the revelations. Jean-Pierre, however, bucked each attempt.
In fact, before Heinrich could even finish her initial question, Jean-Pierre had already refused to answer it.
"This news about the Durham investigation: Does the president have any concerns about a candidate for president using computer experts to infiltrate computer systems of competing candidates, or even the president-elect for the goal of creating a narrative? Is that something that —" Heinrich said.
"That’s something I can’t speak to from this podium, so I refer you to the Department of Justice," Jean-Pierre interrupted.
Interestingly, Heinrich asked a question directly related to President Joe Biden's thoughts, which certainly falls under the responsibilities of the White House. Given that Heinrich was not asking a question that fell under the purview of the Justice Department, Jean-Pierre's response indicates the White House decided before the press briefing not to answer questions related to Durham's investigation.
Karine Jean-Pierre doesn't even try to answer this question about the bombshell Durham revelations.pic.twitter.com/QUrBSJ6Thu— Townhall.com (@Townhall.com) 1644872701
Still, Jean-Pierre's refusal to address Heinrich's question did not deter her.
"Is what being described in that report — monitoring internet traffic — is that spying?" Heinrich followed up.
"Again, I can’t speak to that report. I refer you to the Department of Justice," Jean-Pierre responded.
"Generally speaking, though, would monitoring internet traffic be —" Heinrich began to ask again before being cut off.
"Jacqui, my answer is not going to change. I refer you to the Department of Justice," Jean-Pierre said. "I can’t speak to that from here."
The Justice Department has not released a statement since Durham's latest filing, and the agency is unlikely to say anything about the investigation prior to its conclusion.
Anything new?
The Washington Free Beacon reported Tuesday that a cybersecurity firm at the center of Durham's investigation that conducted work for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016 was also paid by Biden's campaign in 2020.
The Free Beacon reported:
The Biden campaign paid nearly $20,000 to a cybersecurity firm at the center of Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.
The campaign paid Neustar Information Services in 2020 for accounting and compliance work, according to Federal Election Commission records. According to Durham, Neustar’s chief technology officer, Rodney Joffe, accessed sensitive web traffic data that the company maintained on behalf of the White House executive office in order to collect "derogatory" information about Donald Trump. Joffe allegedly provided the information to Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who in turn gave it to the CIA during a meeting in February 2017. Durham charged Sussmann in September with lying to the FBI about his investigation of Trump.
New:\nBiden campaign paid the tech firm at center of Durham investigation\n\nBiden\u2019s campaign is one of only two to have ever paid NEUSTAR, per FEC records. The other? Hillary Clinton\u2019s \n@FreeBeaconhttps://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-had-firm-at-center-of-trump-hacking-scandal-on-campaign-payroll/\u00a0\u2026— Chuck Ross (@Chuck Ross) 1644933947
Joffe, however, denies any wrongdoing, according to a statement provided to NBC News by his spokesperson.
"Contrary to the allegations in this recent filing, Mr. Joffe is an apolitical internet security expert with decades of service to the U.S. Government who has never worked for a political party, and who legally provided access to DNS data obtained from a private client that separately was providing DNS services to the Executive Office of the President (EOP)," the statement said.
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