Watch live: White House press briefing
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will hold a briefing with reporters Tuesday.
Last week Jean-Pierre faced continuing questions concerning the discovery of classified documents from the Obama-Biden administration at Biden’s old office at the University of Pennsylvania and his home in Delaware.
The press secretary insisted that the White House is cooperating with investigations now led by special counsel Robert Hur, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland but working independently.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R) has expressed an intention for Congress to investigate as well. Republicans have said that Biden is receiving better treatment than former President Trump has in the inquiry into classified documents found at Trump’s Florida estate. Democrats, however, point to a pronounced contrast between what they characterize as the Biden administration’s transparency and Trump’s obstructionism.
Over the weekend, Biden’s observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day allowed the president to attempt to steer attention back toward his policies. In a sermon Sunday at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where King preached, Biden spoke of the need to further the reverend’s work by choosing democracy over autocracy. A breakfast address to the National Action Network referred to work by his administration toward economic justice, which he contrasted with Republican policies that he said favor the wealthy at the expense of the middle and working classes.
On Thursday Biden will travel to California, a state struggling with the effects of multiple natural disasters brought on by a series of storms. Over the weekend, Biden authorized federal funding to counties in California, as well as Alabama, which was the site of a succession of major tornadoes in recent days.
Tuesday’s briefing is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. ET.
Watch the live video above.