The queries had been about Ukraine, North Korea, and Sudanese peace negotiations on Wednesday afternoon when one of the White House briefing room's more robust questioners took over.

The New York Post's Steven Nelson asked his query after citing a secret F.B.I. file, an anonymous I.R.S. whistleblower, and a Harvard-Harris poll from earlier this month that found 53 percent of the public was suspicious of the first family's ties to foreign powers, as The Daily Mail reported.

However, that was not the official administration response. John Kirby, the notoriously calm spokesperson for the National Security Council, had the podium and the microphone.

"Wow," the spokesperson said, momentarily flustered , as he shook his head before regaining his balance. "The president has spoken to this ... the president has spoken to this, and there's nothing to these claims.

"And as for the whistleblower issue that you talked about and the document, I believe the FBI has spoken to that. You're gonna have to go to them on that."

White House briefing room officials frequently respond with jaded resignation to inquiries regarding the president's son, his foreign business transactions, uncomfortable emails from his abandoned laptop, and even a lucrative foray into the art world.

Midway through the briefing, after a routine query about artificial intelligence, the situation took an awkward turn, revealing these sentiments in full.

Nelson, situated in the rear of the room, asked a query using an old trick. When Jean-Pierre pointed to a nearby journalist, he merely began to ask his question as if the press secretary's pointer were aimed at him.

"There have been many developments in the House investigations into the first family's international business dealings recently," he said.

The House Oversight Committee was attempting to obtain an F.B.I. file that some Republicans insist contains allegations that Vice President Biden accepted millions of dollars in gratuities.

And an Internal Revenue Service whistleblower has come forward with allegations of negligence and political interference in an ongoing criminal investigation involving the president's son.

"In the middle of this there was a Harvard Harris poll this month that found that 53 percent of the public including a fourth of Democrats believe, 'Joe Biden was involved with his son in an illegal influence peddling scheme,'" he continued, before dropping his troublesome question.

The most recent claims invigorate conservative Republicans, but Democrats dismiss them as baseless partisan attacks.

The Biden administration has taken pains to portray itself as a return to normalcy after the turmoil of the Trump years and his decision to defy norms by refusing to place his assets in a blind trust or release his tax returns.