Additional Coverage:
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt returned to the briefing room on Thursday for her first press conference since coming back from maternity leave. Despite the time away, the exchange between Leavitt and CNN’s Kaitlan Collins remained notably tense.
During the session, Collins pressed Leavitt on President Donald Trump’s scheduled primetime address, asking why no charges have been filed after more than 540 days in office if the president’s claims are supported by evidence. Leavitt responded cautiously, noting that Trump had yet to declassify any documents and that they would have to wait for his remarks before taking further action.
When Collins inquired specifically about the Justice Department pursuing charges, Leavitt firmly stated, “Kaitlan, I don’t speak for the Justice Department,” emphasizing her role as spokesperson for the president rather than an authority on legal proceedings. She reiterated that any questions about charges should be directed to the Justice Department.
Leavitt’s return follows her maternity leave, which began in late April after the birth of her daughter, Viviana. She and her husband, Nicholas Riccio, 60, also have a two-year-old son named Niko.
At the start of Thursday’s briefing, Leavitt confirmed that President Trump will deliver a 9 p.m. ET address focused on “protecting the integrity of our elections.” Collins’s questions appeared aimed at whether the speech would revisit Trump’s unsubstantiated claims about the 2020 election results.