WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Thursday that he was not briefed about the search warrants executed at Rudy Giuliani’s apartment and office and learned about moves by federal investigators at the same time as the public.
“I give you my word, I was not,” Biden said in an exclusive interview with TODAY show co-anchor Craig Melvin at the White House Thursday morning.
“I made a pledge,” Biden continued. “I would not interfere in any way — order or try to stop any investigation the Justice Department had in their way. I learned about that last night when the rest of the world learned about it.”
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Asked if he’s been briefed about any other investigation, Biden said, “No, and I’m not asking to be briefed — that’s the Justice Department’s independent judgment.”
Biden said that the Trump administration “politicized the Justice Department so badly, so many of them quit, so many left.”
“That’s not the role of the president to say who should be prosecuted, when they should be prosecuted, who should not be prosecuted. That’s not the role of the president. The Justice Department is the people’s lawyer, not the president’s lawyer.”
Biden’s remarks came in a wide-ranging interview a day after FBI agents executed search warrants at Giuliani‘s Manhattan apartment and his office to seize electronic devices. The searches signaled that prosecutors are continuing their investigation into Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s attorney.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
