A day after White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest described the investigation of Hillary Clinton as “criminal” he resisted follow-up questions from White House reporters about the nature of the case.

When asked whether Earnest thinks that the investigation is criminal, he replied, “I would have no insight in that, because I am not getting any sort of briefings from the Department of Justice about that ongoing investigation.”

The Republican National Committee highlighted Earnest’s comments from Thursday, on the same day as President Barack Obama endorsed Clinton for president. The Clinton campaign has tried to wave off the seriousness of the investigation into the use of her private email server to exchange classified information by describing it as a security review.

When asked whether he had misspoken, Earnest feigned ignorance about the case.

“I think what I’ve said is on a number of occasions that I have not been briefed by the Department of Justice about the investigation,” Earnest said, ignoring the question and directing the questioner to the Department of Justice.

Earnest reiterated his claim that the Department of Justice investigation of Clinton would not have any political interference, but rather follow the facts and evidence.