Biden classified documents: White House refuses to say if it will cooperate with House oversight inquiries
Deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton refused to say Thursday whether the White House will cooperate with House oversight committee inquiries into classified documents found at President Biden's home and think tank.
President Biden will not make an announcement on whether he will run for re-election in 2024 until after he gives the State of the Union address, according to sources.
Sources say that the timing of the announcement isn't related to an ongoing investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents.
White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said that the discovery of classified documents wouldn't impact Biden's timing on the decision.
"The president is honoring his promise to respect the independence of the Department of Justice and divorce it from politics. You’ve heard from him directly, including after his agenda resulted in the best midterms for a Democratic president in 60 years, that he intends to run," Bates said.
President Biden departs the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
"With inflation falling, the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, more jobs back to America, and lowering drug costs — all in the last week alone — his focus in on delivering even more progress for American families. This week we also saw House Republicans’ vision: raising taxes on the middle class to cut them for the wealthy, worsening inflation, and a national abortion ban," he added.
A Democratic strategist told Fox News that it wouldn't make sense for Biden to announce plans for 2024 anywhere near, or directly after, the State of the Union. The strategist said that Biden would be better off touting his administration's accomplishments and let it breathe before launching another major moment.
Biden is facing criticism from Democrats and Republicans after classified documents were found at both his private office at the Penn Biden Center and at his Wilmington, Delaware, residence's private garage.
Then-presidential candidate Joe Biden is seen backing into what appears to be his Wilmington, Delaware, driveway in a 2020 campaign video. (Joe Biden 2020)
In addressing the documents, Biden told Fox News' Peter Doocy that they were in a locked garage.
"Classified documents next to your Corvette? What were you thinking?" Doocy asked Biden.
"I'm going to get the chance to speak on all of this, God willing it'll be soon, but I said earlier this week — and by the way, my Corvette is in a locked garage. It's not like it's sitting out in the street," Biden responded.
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President Biden speaks to supporters at the National Action Network's Annual Martin Luther King Day Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Monday. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
"So the documents were in a locked garage?," Doocy asked.
"Yes, as well as my Corvette. But as I said earlier this week, people know I take classified documents and classified material seriously," Biden said. "I also said we're cooperating fully and completely with the Justice Department's review."
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
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