Biden ‘Politburo' aide Bruce Reed blames ex-prez's debate fiasco on his stutter
Bruce Reed, 65, Biden's former deputy chief of staff for policy, delivered a spirited defense of the 46th president's cognitive abilities during his roughly six-hour-long transcribed interview Tuesday, The Post has learned.
'Mr. Reed claimed in his transcribed interview that Joe Biden's debate performance was the result of his stutter,' a source familiar with Reed's testimony told The Post.
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'When asked whether Americans' concerns about Joe Biden's mental acuity were legitimate, Mr. Reed responded that he believes Americans should not have had any concerns about the President's mental faculties.'
3 Bruce Reed has been described as a policy wonk and was seen as a driving force behind much of former President Joe Biden's domestic agenda.
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Reed, who is now the ninth ex-Biden aide to appear before the panel, did not take questions from the press before his closed-door testimony.
Biden struggled with a stutter during his youth, but he participated in numerous public debates over the past five decades where he seemed much more coherent.
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Biden, 82, agreed to debate President Trump in late June of last year, far earlier than presidential verbal bouts have typically taken place during recent decades, usually in the fall.
Reed, who has been described by Democratic operatives as a policy wonk, was among the advisers who helped prepare Biden for the notorious fumbling debate.
Biden appeared on the debate stage borderline stonefaced at times and struggled to complete some of his thoughts, with his mouth agape during portions. The stunning display sparked a Democratic mutiny against Biden that led to him dropping out of the 2024 race.
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3 Former President Joe Biden has ripped into Republicans for questioning whether he actually made the decisions on how autopen was used.
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'During his interview, Mr. Reed stated that the decision to hold the debate early was a deliberate strategy to get ahead of early voting and the Olympics,' the source recounted. 'He emphasized that the campaign's push for the early debate was unrelated to concerns about President Biden's age.'
The bombshell book 'Original Sin' described Reed as one of what the authors called Biden's 'Politburo,' the core inner circle of 'ultimate decision-makers' around the 46th president.
He is now the last of the non-family 'Politburo' members described in the book to testify before the panel.
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The 65-year-old has been a key figure in the Biden team and Democratic politics for years.
In addition to his time as deputy chief of staff for policy during the Biden administration, Reed also served as Biden's chief of staff during the first half of his vice presidency and held key roles in the 2020 and 2024 campaigns.
He also worked in the Clinton administration as the director of the Domestic Policy Council, a deputy campaign manager for policy during the 1992 Clinton campaign for the presidency, and a speechwriter for former Vice President Al Gore during his Senate days.
Back in May, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) revived his probe into whether there was a 'cover-up' of Biden's mental cognition that he had opened last Congress.
3 Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer revived the probe into Joe Biden's acuity back in May.
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The Kentucky Republican also expanded the probe to look at Biden's use of autopen to sign official documents after revelations emerged that the 46th president used the device very frequently.
No lawmakers were present for Reed's transcribed interview.
Biden has publicly ripped into aspersions from Republicans over his use of the autopen and insisted that he made every decision.
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Other ex-Biden aides who sat before the Oversight panel, include former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain; former senior adviser Mike Donilon; former counselor Steve Ricchetti; Jill Biden's powerful former chief of staff Anthony Bernal; former presidential physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor; Ashley Williams, former special assistant to the president and deputy director of Oval Office Operations; and Neera Tanden, the former White House director of the Domestic Policy Council.
Some of those ex-Biden aides who came before the powerful investigatory committee had been subpoenaed and opted to plead their Fifth Amendment, refraining from answering questions.
Reed had agreed to a transcribed interview before the Oversight Committee and, therefore, wasn't able to plead the Fifth.
The powerful investigatory panel is slated to hear from former senior adviser Anita Dunn on Thursday. There are at least four more ex-Biden aides scheduled to appear before the panel after Dunn.
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