Reporter frustrates Biden when she asks about classified documents — but Biden says he has 'no regrets'



President Joe Biden admitted Thursday that he has "no regrets" for improperly retaining classified documents.

After touring areas of California ravaged by recent winter storms, Biden was confronted by Bloomberg News reporter Jennifer Jacobs about his classified documents scandal.

"Do you have any regret, sir?" Jacobs asked.

The question clearly frustrated the president. He said the issue "quite frankly bugs" him — that he would have to answer for retaining classified documents — and decried Jacobs for not asking him about weather events.

Jacobs followed up, "Do you have any regret, sir, that you did not reveal the existence of the documents back in November, before the midterms?"

"Look, we found a handful of documents that were filed in the wrong place. We immediately turned them over to the [National] Archives and the Justice Department. We're fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly," Biden responded.

"I think you're going to find there's nothing there. I have no regrets," he added. "I'm following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do. It's exactly what we're doing. There is no 'there' there."

\u201cA reporter asks Biden a question about the classified docs: "What quite frankly bugs me is we have a serious problem here and the American people don't quite understand why you don't ask me questions about that" before adding he has "no regrets" about how he handled the docs.\u201d
— Greg Price (@Greg Price) 1674170083

Biden's declaration that he experiences no regret for improperly storing classified documents at his private office and residence is ironic. After all, when former President Donald Trump was under intense scrutiny for the same offense — storing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago — Biden condemned Trump as "totally irresponsible."

Jacobs' question, meanwhile, hit at the heart of a critical question the White House has so far refused to answer.

When the White House disclosed last week that Biden's personal attorneys had discovered a batch of classified documents at Biden's post-vice presidential Washington office on Nov. 2, officials failed to mention the discovery of a second batch of classified documents at Biden's Wilmington, Delaware, residence on Dec. 20. Indeed, the White House only admitted to the second discovery after NBC News first reported on its existence.

Former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur is investigating the discoveries as special counsel.

Joe Biden refuses to answer question about Afghanistan crisis: 'I'm not supposed to take any questions'



President Joe Biden refused to address the Afghanistan crisis Sunday when asked about the ongoing critical situation following a briefing that addressed Hurricane Ida.

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana earlier on Sunday, and is expected to cause catastrophic damage to the Gulf Coast as the second most intense hurricane to ever make landfall in the Bayou State.

What happened?

Following a briefing at FEMA headquarters, Biden called on a reporter after stating, "I'm not supposed to take any questions."

The reporter, whom Biden directed to ask a question, began to ask about the Afghanistan crisis, but before she could complete her sentence, Biden cut her off, smacked the lectern, and walked away.

"Mr. President, on Afghanistan—" the reporter said before being cut off.

"I'm not going to answer Afghanistan now," Biden said, interrupting the reporter and throwing his hand up. Biden then turned his back to the press and walked away.

Biden calls on a reporter following remarks about #HurricaneIda and the reporter asks him about his disaster in Afg… https://t.co/wiF0aBEaPn
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) 1630265772.0

Bloomberg senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs said she was the reporter who attempted to ask Biden about Afghanistan.

The incident happened one week after Vice President Kamala Harris made headlines for similarly cutting off a reporter who was trying to ask her about the Afghanistan crisis. To her credit, Harris began addressing the crisis several moments later.

Anything else?

Biden has generated fierce criticism over his public posture toward the Afghanistan crisis.

For example, just days after the fall of Kabul, Biden refused to take questions from reporters about the Afghanistan crisis, and at the time, the full-scale evacuation effort that was underway. Following a speech about the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden simply walked away.

Biden was criticized last week for doing essentially the same thing. Then, last Tuesday, Biden was more than four hours late for remarks on Afghanistan.

The White House, however, insisted that Biden has not been intentionally refusing to address the Afghanistan crisis.

"The president never shies away from taking questions," White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield claimed.