Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo | Eastern North Carolina Now

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don't have a - a timeline.

    Q Or (inaudible) made.

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, I - well, I don't have a timeline on when he made that decision. He was asked that directly yesterday. He answered that very straightforward - in a straightforward way. I just laid out what our concerns are with that.

    Q And can you just update us - Karine, I know you've answered some version of this question before, but as we're sort of starting in September here: Has the President or anyone within the administration been briefed on the intelligence community's assessment of the classified or sensitive documents that have been retrieved at Mar-a-Lago?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No. No.

    Q And is there a protocol for that, I mean, given that we are talking about sensitive government documents?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, again - and I've said this many times at this podium, we have said this many times on your air - your airwaves - which is: We are just - we get the interest. We understand the interest. We're not going to comment on an ongoing, independent investigation, as anything that's related to it. This is something that the President has been very clear about in making sure there is no political interference and making sure that the Department of Justice has that independence when it comes to investigations. So I'm just not going to comment anything related to it.

    Q One more quick, on a different topic. But just following up on the questions about the "MAGA Republicans," the President is very firm in his language and direct, saying that the former President and MAGA Republicans he believes pose a threat to America's democracy. Does he then denounce the efforts by some Democrats to prop up Republicans who support the MAGA agenda in the primaries?

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    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'm not going to talk about political action or what is happening in the midterms.

    Q Just broadly speaking -

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I - I'm just - that is -

    Q - does the administration see this (inaudible)?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I am not going to talk anything that's related to the midterms or politics as well. I cannot, standing where I am and also the role that I have.

    I'm going to go to the back and then I'll come back front. I'll come back.

    Q Karine, thanks -

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead. I haven't - go ahead, sir.

    Q Thank you. Thank you, Karine. Thank you very much. Does - does President Biden - President Biden is the current holder of executive privilege. And does President Biden believe that Trump can claim executive privilege for government documents that he took with him to Florida?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Again, anything related to the independent investigation - again, independent investigation that's being done by the Department of Justice - we're not going to comment, regardless of content or any underlying material. I'm not going to comment from here.

    Q Well, the judge - Judge Cannon, herself, said that Biden hadn't weighed in. That's refuted in the National Archives letter. But does President Biden have an opinion on - and has he exerted his opinion on whether executive privilege applies to former President Trump after he left office, after he left on January 20th, 2021?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Not - it is - I'm not going to comment about what the - what the judge said yesterday, the court has laid out. Again, that is for the Department of Justice, this whole independent investigation. I'm just not going to comment on it at this time.

    Go ahead, Courtney.

    Q Thanks, Karine. I wanted to ask you: The Department of Veterans Affairs put out an interim rule this morning on access to abortion, offering veterans abortion in special instances. I know we had the conversation in here shortly after the fall of Roe, about this idea of doctors performing abortion procedures on federal land, and even talked about how that wasn't the best path forward at the time. What changed? And what do you believe is the legal justification to make this happen at VA clinics?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So I would leave that to the Veterans Affairs Department; that is their decision to make. And I would refer you to them on that particular question.

    I'm going to get around because we don't have a lot of time at all.

    Go ahead.

    Q Thank you. In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister - (inaudible) Prime Minister Modi gave a call to communicate India a developed country in the next 25 years - at least 2047, when India celebrates its 100 years of independence. As you know, this year is the 75th year of India's independence. In what way U.S. can - U.S. can help India - assist India in making it a developed nation by 2047, or in the next 25 years?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So the United States and, as you know, India - and I've said this to you before in this room - will continue to work together every day to deliver opportunities, security, freedom, and dignity to our peoples. We are partners in many important areas, including defense, vaccines, climate, tech, and our ever-growing people-to-people connections.

    The United States will continue to work with India to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific and address the challenges both our countries face around the world. That is our commitment that we have in our partnership with India.

    Q And secondly, what is the President's assessment of the situation in Afghanistan right now, a year after the Taliban took the power there?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Say that - say that one more time.

    Q What is the President's assessment of the situation in Afghanistan right now, a year after the Taliban took the power?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So we are - we are committed to supporting the Afghan people, and we have said that many times before. And we are proud to be the largest single provider of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. We are working closely with the United Nations and other partners to provide this assistance directly to the Afghan people without benefit to the Taliban.

    We will remain vigilant against any terrorism threats directed at the United States or our allies, as we have demonstrated just recently in July, as you know, when we took out the leader of al Qaeda.

    And we will continue to prioritize relocation efforts to our Afghan allies and welcome our Afghan allies to the United States since our commitment to them is enduring.

    So we will also continue to press the Taliban for the safe release of Mark Frerichs and to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Afghans, including women and girls. And that is our - going to continue to be our commitment.

    I'm just going to go around to folks I haven't called on, and then I'll come down to here, Peter.

    Q Thanks, Karine. There are multiple inspector general posts where the President has yet to nominate a permanent IG. There may be someone acting there, but has yet to nominate a permanent IG at the State Department - hasn't had a permanent IG since before President Biden took office. So what is the President doing, what is the White House doing behind the scenes to find those permanent IGs for those really important positions?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So it's a great question. I don't have anything here to read out or lay out to you about our process in filling the permanent IGs. I would refer you to State Department specifically on anything - on what they have - what they have laid out and how they've worked through that.

    I don't have any updates on any - naming anyone or anything that we have to share or to preview to you as well.

    Q Yes, I understand. But these are the President's nominees. State Department doesn't make that.

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, but you also asked me what is it that we're doing as well. So I - that's why I said you should go to State Department to figure out what is it that they're been doing while we're trying to figure out the permanent IGs. I don't have anything to preview at this time on our process or where we are on that particular question.

    Q And then really briefly on student loans. I know the administration has encouraged people who are applying for loan forgiveness, when that opens up, to do so by November 15th. But is there kind of an end deadline? When is the last time people can apply for that? Is there some sort of deadline, considering, of course, that this would already have to be debt that's already been accrued?

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    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So we've - we've talked about this - I talked about this last week - about the timeline and how that's going to work.

    And you mentioned November 15th. So - so that's in order - we do - we are saying that in order to receive before the payment pause, which expires on December 31st, 2022. So that's why we want - as you want to get that relief, we want to also - and the pause is coming off. That's the best way to make sure that as those two things are happening, and you're not put in a bind - America is not put in a bind - that's why we recommend doing it by November 15th.

    But the Department of Education will continue to process applications as they are received, even after the pause expires on December 31st. So it'll be continuing. The reason why we give the deadline of November 15 is because we know the pause is going to be lifted. So to give - as we have said, we want to make sure that we give Americans a little bit of breathing room. And that's why we have that deadline.

    Q So people can apply into 2023?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yes, they can. Yes.

    Okay. Oh, Peter, go ahead.

    Q Thanks, Karine. A follow-up about the MAGA Republican attention. So if we're all in agreement that it is incorrect to say the 2020 election was stolen, what about the 2016 election?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I'm not going to go back to where we were or what happened in 2016. We're going to focus on the here and now. We're going to focus on what's happening today - this inflection point that the President pointed out, very clearly, very decisively in a few speeches about what the country needs to do at this time to bring the country together.

    And he believes that's where a majority of Americans are when it comes to protecting our democracy, when it comes to protecting our rights, and when it comes to protecting our freedoms. That's what we're going to talk about. That's what we're going to focus on - on where we are today.

    Q But just in trying to understand the new attention on the MAGA Republicans, you tweeted in 2016 -

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, I knew this was coming.

    Q - Trump "stole" an election. You tweeted -

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I was waiting, Peter, when you were going to ask me that question. (Laughs.)

    Q Well, great. Here we go. You tweeted Trump "stole" an election. You tweeted Brian Kemp "stole" an election. If denying election results is extreme now, why wasn't it then?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So let's - let's - let's be really clear: That - that comparison that you made is just ridiculous. I have been - I have been -

    Q How is that ridiculous?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, you're asking me - you're asking me a question.

    Q Yes.

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Let me answer it.

    Q And you said it was ridiculous.

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I was - I was talking specifically at that time of what was happening with voting rights and the - what was in danger of voting rights. That's what I was speaking to at the time.

    And here's the thing: I have said Governor Kemp won the election in Georgia. I've been clear about that. I have said President Trump won the election of 2016. And I've been clear about that.

    What we are talking about right now is - let's not forget what happened on January 6th, 2021, when we saw an insurrection - a mob that was incited by the person who occupied this campus, this facility at that time. And it was an attack on our democracy.

    Let's not forget people died that day. Law enforcement were attacked that day. That was the danger that we were seeing at the time. That's what the President has called out. And that's what he's going to continue to call out.

    So, yes, when you have MAGA Republicans - a extreme part of Republicans who for - who just deny or do not want to really say what exactly happened on that day, or say it was a protest when it clearly was not a peaceful protest - that's not what we saw on that day - yes, the President is going to call that out.

    And here's the thing: Majority of Americans agree with him, majority of Americans agree with this President on protecting our democracy, protecting our freedom, and protecting our rights. That's what we're talking about today, and that's what the President is going to focus on.

    All right, we're going to have to move. We're going to have to move. I'm going to call on folks I haven't called on.

    Go ahead.

    Q Thanks, Karine. I'm just wondering if you have any sort of preview for the event tomorrow with former President Obama and former First Lady Obama.

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I do. I do.

    So, tomorrow, President Biden is looking forward to welcoming back President Obama and Michelle Obama to the White House for the unveiling of their official White House portraits.

    Over the course of their eight years together in office, a close partnership between the two men grew through the highs and lows of the job and life - and of life. President Biden and Dr. Biden are honored to have former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama back to the White House for the unveiling of their portraits, which will hang on the walls of the White House forever as reminders of the power of hope and change.

    Q And obviously, this ceremony is happening, as per in recent history, tradition: predecessor and successor. Obviously, it didn't happen under the last administration. Would President Biden hold the same ceremony for President Trump should his portraits be done before his first term?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So we - we defer those questions to the White House Historical Association who actually - they lead the process on official portraits for both presidents and their spouses. So that question goes - lies with them.

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    Q And is there any more interaction that the former President and current President will have tomorrow? Or is it just the ceremony?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don't have anything else to share at this time. If we - if there's more interaction or more to share, we certainly will.

    Okay. Go ahead.

    Q Going back to the new UK Prime Minister, can you talk a little bit about what President Biden's relationship is with her? Has he met with her in the past? Does he know her well?
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