White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday said there was 'hardly a comparison' between President Joe Biden and the Trump administration as she batted down a question about the president's comment that people who defy Jan. 6th committee subpoenas should be prosecuted.
Psaki was pressed on Biden's comment Friday evening, when he first said he hopes a select House committee 'goes after them and holds them accountable.' He then got asked if those who defy subpoenas should be prosecuted, and responded: 'I do, yes.'
Psaki on Friday night vouched for the 'independent role' of the DOJ – which Biden has pledged to uphold.
But she was asked about the comments point blank on Monday at the White House.
'The president continues to believe that Jan. 6 was one of the darkest days in our democracy,' Psaki said, focusing on the riot that resulted in the immediate deaths of five people. 'He also continues to believe that the Department of Justice has the purview and the independence to make decisions about prosecutions,' she said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki brought up the threat of mass resignations from the Justice Department in the final days of the Trump administration when asked to explain President Joe Biden's comment that those who defy subpoenas from the Jan. 6th committee should face prosecution
Peter Doocy of Fox News pressed her on the comment, who shot back that that 'was not what he said' – in reference to Biden's comment about DOJ.
'I just conveyed what his view is and that is also how he has operated, how he has governed and how he will continue to govern,' said Psaki.
Doocy brought up Biden's past comment not to follow Trump's lead, prompting her to bring up threats of mass resignations in the final weeks of the Trump presidency amid Trump's election overturn effort.
'Well, since you give me the opportunity, the former president used his office to incite an insurrection, he put political pressure on senior DOJ officials to propagate lies about the election to the point where they threatened to resign en masse. I think there's hardly a comparison there,' she said.
Several top House Democrats have said witnesses should face the full extent of the law if they defy congressional subpoenas. But Biden's own statement about what DOJ should do appears to contradict his own vows to stay out of the DOJ's lane.
Psaki's came after the Department of Justice asserted its independence from the president in a statement following Biden's comments.
'The Department of Justice will make its own independent decisions in all prosecutions based solely on the facts and the law. Period. Full stop,' DOJ spokesperson Anthony Coley said in a blunt response to Biden's plea.
Biden said when he introduced then-Judge Merrick Garland as his nominee to head the DOJ: 'We need to restore the honor, the integrity, the independence of the DOJ of this nation that has been so badly damaged. I want to be clear to those who lead this department who you will serve: You won’t work for me. You are not the president’s or the vice president’s lawyer. Your loyalty is not to me. It’s to the law, the Constitution, the people of this
