White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Monday after the reporter demanded evidence for President Trump’s claim that pardons signed by former President Joe Biden were void.
Collins questioned Leavitt during the White House press briefing about Trump’s post on Truth Social in which he made the case that some of Biden’s last-minute pardons were “void” and “vacant” because they were allegedly signed by autopen without his knowledge.
The ratings-challenged network’s chief White House correspondent and primetime anchor pressed Leavitt on whether there was any “evidence” supporting Trump’s claim, to which she shot back: “You’re a reporter, you should find out.”
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins got into a back-and-forth with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt over President Trump’s recent post on Biden’s pardons.CNN
On social media, Trump questioned the validity of Biden’s pardons, claiming his aging predecessor had no idea who may have used the autopen to sign off on the eleventh-hour preemptive pardons for former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” Trump wrote in post Monday morning.
Collins asked Leavitt if Trump’s legal advisers had spoken to him before he posted his claim on social media.
“The president [Trump] was raising the point, did the president [Biden] even know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge?” Leavitt replied.
Leavitt ripped Collins, saying that reporters should look into the president’s claims relating to Biden’s last-minute pardons.AP
The press secretary then zeroed in on Biden’s cognitive ability when he issued the pardons.
“The president was begging the question that I think a lot of journalists in this room should be asking,” Leavitt said.
She continued: “I think it’s a question that everybody in this room should be looking into, because certainly that would propose perhaps criminal or illegal behavior if staff members were signing the president of the United States’ autograph without his consent.”
Trump alleged that his predecessor “knew nothing” about the pardons and questioned whether his staff had “committed a crime.”REUTERS
Trump claimed Biden “knew nothing” about the pardons, raising the question as to whether his staff had “committed a crime.”
“The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime,” he wrote.
During his last days in office, Biden made a slew of eleventh-hour pardons, including preemptive pardons to former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci.Getty Images
Trump went on to threaten to prosecute those who participated in the multiple probes into his presidency, including members of Congress who sat on the committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol.
“Therefore, those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level,” the president added.
