Aides to President Joe Biden are reportedly scheming to manipulate public perception over the disastrous special counsel report to spin concerns about his age and mental fitness to his benefit.
Last week’s release of the findings of Justice Department prosecutor Robert Hur in his probe into Biden’s mishandling of classified materials that essentially depicted the octogenarian Democrat as being too senile for a jury trial drew a furious pushback from the White House, including from the 81-year-old leader who spectacularly imploded during an impromptu presser where he angrily rejected the report.
In a complete contradiction of the administration’s pledge to “bring transparency and truth back to government,” the masters of deception who serve him are reportedly plotting on how to best use the transcripts of his interviews with Hur to portray him as a steadfast and competent leader as they desperately try to shore up voter confidence for his troubled reelection bid.
White House counsel spox Ian Sams does not rule out releasing the transcript of President Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur:
“I think that it’s important to know that we’re dealing with classified materials in this conversation … but it’s a reasonable question.” pic.twitter.com/ggrlHwcjfV
— The Recount (@therecount) February 9, 2024
According to an NBC News report, aides are expecting a “lengthy partisan clash over the transcript and possibly the audio recording” and are mulling a “strategic” release that would cherry-pick segments that could be used to publicly rebut Hur’s description of Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory,” a true statement if one was to judge by the president’s extensive and growing collection of senior moments and gaffes that are well-documented on video.
Citing the customary anonymous sources in “two people familiar with the discussions,” the outlet reports that Biden’s team feels that “the interview was a far more freewheeling discussion than what was detailed in Hur’s report,” and is “now weighing how to best position him to weather the protracted fallout from Hur’s report.”
“The internal discussions among Biden aides have focused on how the transcript of his interview might help him versus hurt him politically when it comes to voters’ concerns about his age, the people familiar with the discussions said,” according to NBC News.
“Another consideration is whether it would make strategic sense to release the entire transcript or — to the extent that full disclosure is avoidable — to publicize specific moments in the interview to help push back on questions about Biden’s handling of classified materials or mental fitness, the people familiar with the discussions said,” the outlet reported, noting that “no final decisions have been made on an approach.”
House Republicans are calling for the release of the Hur transcripts in the interest of transparency. In a Monday letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the chairs of three top committees said that the interview is relevant to their ongoing impeachment inquiry.
“Americans deserve transparency about President Biden’s mental state and his mishandling of classified documents,” the Oversight Committee said in a post to X, sharing a copy of the letter.
BREAKING
We are giving the Justice Department until February 19 at 5p to produce the transcript of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur and other documents included in the report that relate to our impeachment inquiry.
Americans deserve transparency… pic.twitter.com/JtVZ2LY3nz
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) February 12, 2024
Hur is expected to publicly testify before the House Judiciary Committee on March 12 where he will be grilled over his decision to not bring charges against Biden in a hearing where the special counsel’s observations about Biden’s mental state will almost certainly be a topic.
The White House’s strategy would seem to be to get ahead of the story by shaping the narrative in a way to gaslight the public about Biden’s visible mental decay, much like their effort to dupe Americans that “Bidenomics” is working for them despite the crushing inflation that they see with each and every trip to the grocery store.
In her first press briefing of the new administration on January 20, 2021, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would “bring transparency and truth back to the government to share the truth.”
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