OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer lost his cool on Friday when discussing President Joe Biden’s classified documents scandal.
During an interview on “CNN This Morning,” Schumer took offense when CNN co-hosts Don Lemon, Kaitlan Collins, and Poppy Harlow of “wanting to buzz around” about Biden having classified documents in multiple locations. Schumer began irritated after CNN played a supercut of lawmakers attacking former President Donald Trump following the raid at Mar-a-Lago over documents.
Schumer defended his own reactions as “entirely consistent,” claiming he withheld comment immediately following the Mar-a-Lago raid. Things got tense after Schumer tried to wave off Lemon and dismiss his questions about where Democrats stand on the Biden scandal.
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
POPPY HARLOW: So you said the president is fully cooperated and there’s no indication that he and the White House have not. But there is a real question about transparency and what the American people deserve. Let me just let.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: The prosecutors will get to the bottom of this and let’s let them do it, for God’s sakes!
POPPY HARLOW: I hear you!
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: I know you all want to buzz around and all of that, but bottom line is…
POPPY HARLOW: But let me let me buzz for a minute. Let me let me buzz for one minute. And I promise we’ll get on to something else…
DON LEMON: It’s not just, hold on, it’s not just us buzzing around. You’re the Democratic head of the Senate. This is a really important issue. It’s not just buzzing around. This is serious stuff.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: And if there were no special prosecutor, there would be you know, you might have a different thing to say, but there is. And now we have the law enforcement people who have the power to get all the facts out doing it. I support both. I think we should have a special prosecutor on each. I don’t mind your asking these questions, but my view is I’m not going to say anything. Let the special prosecutors do their job.
POPPY HARLOW: The question I was going to ask is about the fact that when when this did come out after CBS News’s reporting and the White House came out and acknowledged it, they only addressed the documents found on November 2nd. But they knew at the time about the documents found on December 20th. And that’s what begs the question of full transparency. And it’s not just us. The Washington Post editorial board, you know, this morning says the same thing, that if the president and this White House answered more questions directly, like that exact timeline that would, quote, promote trust and preempt this criticism, would you like to see the White House do that today?
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: I leave everything up to the special prosecutors. Their obligation legally was to report things to the archives the minute they discovered them. Unlike Trump, they did.
WATCH:
The White House has confirmed that more classified documents have been discovered, this time in the Wilmington garage of President Joe Biden.
On Thursday, the White House confirmed that the reported second set of classified documents that were found was discovered in the president’s garage.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tore into Democrats this week following news of President Joe Biden having classified documents at a private office in Washington, D.C., that he used on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania.
During an appearance on Fox News, McCarthy spoke about the latest development and what Republicans are planning to do now that they control the U.S. House of Representatives.
“They have to eat their words, but the hypocrisy. Think about this. They have gotten away with so much for so long. This was discovered before the last election, just like the laptop. They think they can lie to the American public. They think they can control the media, and control companies to shut down if one media company writes about it. They think they’re above the law. Why weren’t they raided? Why didn’t they have the FBI coming in? Why didn’t he on “60 Minutes” say, well, I understand that because I bet I have the same problem?” McCarthy asked.
“Did Barack Obama have some of this when he was writing his book? Does Hillary Clinton have some? And you know what? All those people have been in government for years. President Trump just ran for president. Do you think he knew everything? You think he went and moved his own boxes? And you know what? They were locked away. Biden’s were not. And how many years after did he have them?” he added.
McCarthy responded: “They think the law doesn’t apply to them. They think they write their own. And that’s what infuriates the American public. America believes in fairness and honesty. And that’s not what we’re getting from them.”
