White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Thursday refused to condemn activists’ plans to protest abortion rights in the homes of Supreme Court justices – or to condemn the expiration of a draft opinion this week that would overturn Rowe v. Wade.
Psaki tried to divert the discussion when she was pressed against potentially chaotic protests in the homes of six conservative members of the court – three of whom are believed to live in Maryland and three in Virginia.
“Do you think the progressive activists who are now planning protests in front of some of the judges’ houses are extreme?” Fox News correspondent Peter Ducy asked at a briefing.
“Peaceful protest? No, the peaceful protest is not extreme, “Psaki replied.
“Some of these judges have young children,” Dusi said. “Their neighbors are not all public figures. So would the president consider denying activists who want to enter residential areas in Virginia and Maryland?
Psaki replied: “I think our view here is that peaceful protests have a long history in the United States. And we have certainly encouraged people to remain calm and not resort to any level of violence. “
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said activists planning to march on the homes of Supreme Court justices would not create “any level of violence.” AP Photo / Evan Vucci
Dusi intervened: “These activists published a map with the home addresses of Supreme Court judges. Is that what the president wants to help your country express its opinion? “
“The president’s opinion is that there is a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness from many, many people in this country about what they saw in this leaked document,” she said. “Obviously we want people’s privacy to be respected. We want people to protest peacefully if they want to protest. That would definitely be the president’s opinion. “
As Dusi continued to push for protest plans, Psaki added: “I have no official position from the US government on where people are protesting. We want, of course, to be peaceful, and the President would certainly like people’s personal data to be respected.
Election protesters shout in front of the Supreme Court on May 5, 2022. JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
“But I don’t think we should lose our meaning here. The reason people are protesting is that women across the country are concerned about their fundamental rights, which have been a law for 50 years – their right to make choices about their own bodies and their own health – are at risk. That’s why people are protesting. They are unhappy. They are scared. “
The spokesman, who will hand over the podium next week to his deputy, the new spokesman Karin Jean-Pierre, was also pressured by NBC News reporter Peter Alexander about the leak, and neither the president nor Psaki condemned the leak as they blew up the ruling.
Alexander noted that the White House was less friendly to other leaks.
Karin Jean-Pierre (left) will take on the role of Psaki’s spokeswoman at the White House. Alex Wong / Getty Images
“Why wouldn’t the White House condemn this leak?” Are you worried about the further politicization of one of the branches of government? Alexander asked
Have you ever reported something that has leaked to you? Psaki asked.
“It’s me and you’ve criticized leaks before… Why don’t you criticize this leak?” Alexander pressed.
“Because I think what is happening here and what we think is happening here is an effort to divert attention from the real problem here, which is fundamental rights,” Psaki said.
Psaki argues that the “fundamental rights” to abortion are more worrying than the expiration of a Supreme Court decision. SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
As Alexander continued to press, Psaki said: “There was a call for an investigation by the leadership of the Supreme Court. Decisions on this and how they will be prosecuted will be made by the Ministry of Justice and others. And that is certainly their space and the right to make that decision. “
Psaki added: “But at the same time, what we also saw, Peter, is that many Republicans who are trying to repeal women’s basic rights are trying to do so for leaks. This is not about leakage. It’s about taking care of women’s health. “
Alexander does not cite any examples, but sometimes Psaki refuses to even ask questions about leaked information. At a briefing on September 1, she declined to discuss the reported content of a conversation between Biden and former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, saying: “Well, I will not enter into private diplomatic talks or leaked transcripts of telephone conversations.”
The Biden administration is seeking the extradition of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange for allegedly working with Chelsea Manning informant to leak diplomatic and military documents and continues to press charges against former government executor Edward Snowden for leaking documents in 2013. U.S. surveillance programs, including the network for collecting recordings of home calls.
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