Karine Jean-Pierre struggles with her job during the best of times, and this has not been the best of times, to say the least. Faced with the biggest scandal to hit the Biden administration since its inception, the press secretary has continually shown she’s just not built to operate in an environment that doesn’t include fawning praise.

When she took the job, she was the first “black, lesbian, immigrant” to hold the position, and that offered her a fair bit of protection from tough questions. That’s all faded though, as the press is demanding answers about why Joe Biden illegally possessed multiple troves of classified documents following his vice presidency.

Jean-Pierre’s go-to response has been to claim that they are being completely transparent, historically transparent even. That’s not true at all, and Jonathan Turley laid out on Friday why their excuses don’t add up.

…Nothing prevents the White House from answering basic questions about the scandal. It will not undermine the Justice Department for the White House to confirm the President's position and recollection. The silence protects the President not the investigation…

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 13, 2023

No administration in history has obfuscated more by citing inapplicable federal protocols and statutes than the current one. Often, we’ve seen Jean-Pierre claim she can’t answer basic questions because of the Hatch Act, or because of supposedly ongoing investigations.

But as Turley aptly points out, that’s not how any of this is supposed to work. The White House being honest about what happened will have zero impact on the DOJ’s investigation, and it’s dishonest to blame the supposed independence of the department for not telling the truth. Certainly, there was absolutely nothing preventing the White House from revealing these documents were found before leaks forced their hand.

Every step of the way, though, the White House has tried to cover up what was happening. They move from one lie and obfuscation to the next, all the while claiming transparency when they are exposed.

…I can understand the desire of a criminal defense attorney for Biden to remain silent. However, the refusal to answer basic questions is not to protect the "independence of the Justice Department" or the investigation. It meant to protect the President as an individual.

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 13, 2023

Turley hits on the key part of this in his third post. The White House via Jean-Pierre keeps claiming that the documents were accidentally removed. Yet, they haven’t shared how that could have happened, who could have possibly done it, nor how that defense absolved the president of responsibility. Saying the classified information was taken mistakenly is just another way of saying gross negligence was involved. Some of the documents were supposed to be contained in a SCIF, and no explanation has been offered how they ended up in Biden’s possession.

Far from the most transparent administration in history, as Jean-Pierre claims, this White House has made a mockery of Americans, treating them like rubes in an attempt to avoid any and all accountability. None of the excuses are adding up, and even reporters that have previously been friendly are finally pressing the issue. I don’t think Jean-Pierre can talk her boss out of this one.