Every time I see this excuse, I wonder. What the heck does it even mean? That they are incapable of saying anything but useless, super generic statements? But then how can they work on individual, specfic policies if they can't even talk about it to the public?
- we don’t comment on individuals
- we don’t comment on hypotheticals
- we don’t comment on anonymous sources
- we don’t comment on politics.
TL;DR we don’t comment on anything, ask someone else!
Democracy is predicated on an informed public. The government therefore needs to be transparent and accountable to the people. Being silent so they can feel like they're allowed to do whatever they please is only acceptable in an authoritarian society.
They've been caught red handed engaging in wrongdoing and refusing to explain themselves. There's no possible excuse for that.