Latest news with #'sDecline
International Business Times
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- International Business Times
Ashley Biden: Former First Daughter Files for Divorce from Her Plastic Surgeon Husband of 13 Years Before Posting Nasty Instagram Story
The daughter of former President Joe Biden, Ashley Biden, has filed for divorce from her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Howard Krein, ending a marriage of over 13 years, court records show. Ashley, 44, filed for divorce from Krein, 59, on Monday in Philadelphia, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. On the same day, Biden's Instagram story featured a photo of her walking through a park and giving a thumbs-up, accompanied by Beyoncé's song "Freedom," according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, which first broke the news. She also posted a quote that read: "New life, new beginnings means new boundaries. New ways of being that won't look or sound like they did before." End of a 13-Year-Old Relationship Ashley Biden with Howard Krein after their marriage X However, she later deleted the post. Ashley, the youngest daughter of Joe Biden, married Krein in 2012 in Greenville, Delaware, at the same church where she had been baptized, People reported. The two first met in 2010 through Ashley's late brother, Beau, who died from cancer in 2015. They lived in a $1.3 million home in Philadelphia, where Krein is employed as an otolaryngologist and plastic surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Ashley holds a master's degree in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania and has been involved in criminal justice reform efforts in the state. When introducing her father at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Ashley spoke about her wedding reception held at the Biden family's lakeside estate in Wilmington. "At the time, my dad was vice president, but he was also that dad who literally set up the entire reception," she said in her speech. "He was riding around in his John Deere 4-wheeler, fixing the place settings, arranging the plants, and by the way, he was very emotional." Reason for Divorce Not Known Ashley Biden with Joe and Jill Biden X Ashley is the only biological child of former First Lady Jill Biden, who married Joe Biden following the tragic death of his first wife, the mother of his two sons. Ashley and her then-husband were present in the Oval Office in June 2024 when Biden addressed the nation to announce he would not be running for re-election. That appearance marked the last time the couple was seen together in public. Although she has largely avoided the public eye, earlier this year Ashley openly defended her father against allegations that he was cognitively unfit during his final months in office. In June, she posted a beach photo with her parents on social media, writing: "I am so grateful. too grateful to be angry about all this bulls**t." Her message came just days after CNN anchor Jake Tapper aired a report questioning the transparency surrounding Biden's recent cancer diagnosis, suggesting the administration had "downplayed" its seriousness while he was still president. Tapper's segment coincided with the release of his book "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again", which claimed the White House deliberately hid signs of Biden's cognitive decline from the public. Although Ashley didn't name Tapper directly, her post strongly hinted he was the intended target.
UPI
26-06-2025
- Politics
- UPI
GOP's Comer subpoenas Jill Biden aide in panel's probe of Joe Biden's mental health
1 of 3 | Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., on Thursday issued a subpoena to a former Jill Biden aide in his panel's probe into Joe Biden's mental health. File Photo (2024) by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo June 26 (UPI) -- Republican House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer on Thursday issued a subpoena to a former Jill Biden aide in his panel's probe into Joe Biden's mental health. The subpoena targeted Anthony Bernal, a former assistant to the president and senior adviser to the former first lady, calling for him to appear for a deposition on July 16 as part of Comer's probe into what his press announcement called "the cover-up of President Joe Biden's mental decline and potentially unauthorized executive actions." Comer's announcement on the subpoena said Bernal was reportedly so close to the former first lady that he was referred to as her "work husband." A day earlier, Bernal had notified Comer's panel that he would not take part in its requested interview. Comer on Thursday said that Bernal previously had confirmed that he would appear "for a voluntary transcribed interview" on Thursday. However, Comer said, the White House Counsel's office informed Bernal that it was waiving executive privilege for the committee's investigation. At that, Bernal refused to appear. In a subpoena cover letter, Comer said, in part, to Bernal that "the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform requested that you -- because of your role as a senior aide to former President Joe Biden -- appear for a transcribed interview on June 11, 2025, broadly regarding 'the extent of your influence over the former President and your knowledge of whether the former President was personally discharging the duties of his office.' "Given your close connection with both former President Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden, the Committee sought to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden's fitness to serve from the American people," the letter continued. "You have refused the Committee's request. However, to advance the Committee's oversight and legislative responsibilities and interests, your testimony is critical. Accordingly, please see the attached subpoena for testimony at a deposition on July 16, 2025." Bernal was one of the sources cited in Jake Tapper's book Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. That book also has been referenced by Comer in his panel's investigation into Joe Biden's mental health. In May, Comer announced his investigation, citing general concerns about Biden's age and mental capacity after the president's troubled performances and missteps on the campaign trail, which eventually resulted in Joe Biden withdrawing from his presidential run. Comer's investigation also launched as renewed interest in Biden's health erupted after the former president announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into Joe Biden's cognitive state, alleging that White House aides covered up his mental decline.
The Hill
26-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Comer subpoenas Jill Biden ‘work husband' for July testimony
House Republicans investigating former President Biden's mental fitness while in office are flexing their subpoena power to get testimony from Anthony Bernal, who was a top aide to former first lady Jill Biden. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) issued a subpoena on Thursday for a deposition from Bernal on July 16 after Bernal, who was reportedly so close to the former first lady that he was referred to as her 'work husband,' declined to take part in an interview that was scheduled Wednesday. President Trump's administration suspended legal protections for Biden officials testifying in the probe the day before Bernal was to take part in a transcribed interview with the committee. 'You have refused the Committee's request. However, to advance the Committee'soversight and legislative responsibilities and interests, your testimony is critical,' Comer wrote in a letter to Bernal on Thursday. Comer had blasted Bernal publicly Wednesday after he skipped their scheduled interview with him. 'Now that the White House has waived executive privilege, it's abundantly clear that Anthony Bernal — Jill Biden's so-called 'work husband '— never intended to be transparent about Joe Biden's cognitive decline and the ensuing cover-up,' Comer said in a statement. 'With no privilege left to hide behind, Mr. Bernal is now running scared, desperate to bury the truth.' 'The American people deserve answers and accountability, and the Oversight Committee will not tolerate this obstruction,' Comer added. 'To avoid any further delays, your appearance before the Committee is now compelled.' Bernal's influence in the Biden administration was detailed in the book 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again' by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios's Alex Thompson. 'He considered loyalty to be the defining virtue and would wield that word to elevate some and oust others – at times fairly and at times not. 'Are you a Biden person?' he would ask West Wing aides. 'Is so-and-so a Biden person?' The regular interrogations led some colleagues to dub him the leader of the 'loyalty police,'' the reporters wrote. Comer has questioned who had authority to use the presidential autopen to sign off on White House actions while Biden was in office. The 'Original Sin' authors wrote that one source told them that 'five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board.' 'The cover-up of President Biden's mental decline is one of the greatest scandals in our nation's history,' Comer said earlier this month in announcing the expansion of his investigation. 'These five former senior advisers were eyewitnesses to President Biden's condition and operations within the Biden White House.' He also has sought testimony from top Biden aides Michael Donilon, Anita Dunn, Ron Klain, Bruce Reed and Steve Ricchetti. The panel privately interviewed Neera Tanden, who was the former president's staff secretary, earlier this week. Comer said Tanden revealed 'she had minimal interaction with President Biden, despite wielding tremendous authority.' 'Her testimony raises serious questions about who was really calling the shots in the Biden White House amid the President's obvious decline,' the oversight chairman said. Comer's committee sought to subpoena Bernal last year after then-President Biden faltered in the presidential debate with Trump and ultimately dropped his reelection bid, but the Biden administration refused to waive executive privilege that shields White House staffers from divulging private conversations with presidents. Axios reported that a person familiar with Bernal's interactions with the House Oversight panel disputed Comer's characterization of Bernal's stance on testifying. 'Calling this a 'refusal' is misleading, when there was simply a request to reschedule the interview,' the person, who Axios did not name, told the outlet. The former president's official office didn't immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment.
New York Post
18-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Jake Tapper ripped on C-SPAN while plugging book on Biden's decline: ‘I really don't like you'
CNN anchor Jake Tapper faced sharp criticism from a caller on C-SPAN Tuesday over his new book about former President Joe Biden's cognitive decline, with the woman accusing him of unfair coverage and bias toward the current president, Donald Trump. Tapper appeared on Tuesday's edition of 'Washington Journal' to discuss 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' the bestselling book he co-wrote with Axios reporter Alex Thompson. During the C-SPAN call-in show, Tapper was confronted by Sarah, a caller from Virginia who voiced frustration over what she saw as one-sided reporting. 4 A C-SPAN caller bluntly told CNN anchor Jake Tapper 'I don't really like you' while he was plugging his book about former President Biden's decline on Tuesday. C-SPAN 'I watch you on CNN,' she began. 'But right now, I really don't like you. I think you're doing a disservice to Joe and also to the American people.' Sarah questioned why Tapper hasn't applied the same level of scrutiny to Trump's behavior and fitness for office. 'When are you going to examine what is going on with Trump? Joe Biden conducted himself for four years taking care of the United States. He took meetings. He went overseas. He negotiated with other leaders,' she said. 'This president has been pure chaos, which indicates to me that there is something wrong with him. We will never get a straight answer on his medical examinations, what medication he is on, and yet you have gone after Joe Biden with a vengeance that… I'm very disappointed in you.' The caller said she used to enjoy Tapper's show 'The Lead,' but that his recent focus had changed her view. 'And I think right now you ought to start writing another book examining Trump and how erratic [he is] and what he is doing, calling out the National Guard, the Marines, and everybody,' she added. 'When has a president ever done that? It's pure erratic!' Tapper, who has acknowledged that he failed to adequately devote scrutiny to the question of Biden's fitness while he was president despite apparent signs of his decline, responded calmly, defending his coverage and encouraging viewers to tune into his daily CNN broadcast. 4 Tapper appeared on Tuesday's edition of 'Washington Journal' to discuss the book he co-wrote with Alex Thompson of Axios. Joe Biden via REUTERS 'Sarah, as you know from watching my show on CNN, we cover President Trump every day for two hours — every day from 5 to 7 Eastern — and we cover all the things you talk about, in terms of the current president's behavior,' he said. He pointed to past instances where Trump confused public figures, saying, 'We have covered the times that he has confused Nancy Pelosi with Nikki Haley.' 'I think some of the questions about President Trump's behavior have more to do with personality than with cognitive decline,' Tapper added. 'Whatever lessons we've learned from covering President Biden, we would apply to any politician,' he continued. 'So I'm sorry if I'm disappointing you by covering President Biden. But journalists, we are supposed to cover stories that we think the American people have a right to know, that we think will enhance their understanding of how the country is run.' Tapper closed the exchange by reaffirming his belief in the book. 'We are proud of this book,' he said, adding that CNN would continue to cover current events in the days ahead. 4 The book alleges that White House aides worked to conceal the then-president's deteriorating mental and physical condition during his time in office. REUTERS 'Washington Journal' is a live, daily call-in program on C-SPAN that gives viewers the chance to directly engage with elected officials, journalists, policy experts and other public figures about current political and policy issues. It typically airs every morning, seven days a week, and covers a wide range of topics including legislation, national events, and public affairs. The show is known for its unfiltered, interactive format whereby viewers call in and ask questions or share opinions live on-air — often divided by political affiliation. 'Everyone knows that C-SPAN callers are cranky and that's part of the charm of the show,' a media source told The Post. Unlike many news programs, 'Washington Journal' maintains a nonpartisan approach, providing a neutral platform for discussion and civic engagement. 4 The book, 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' has become a bestseller. AFP via Getty Images The book alleges that White House aides worked to conceal the then-president's deteriorating mental and physical condition during his time in office. Since its release, Tapper has made headlines by calling the alleged cover-up 'worse than Watergate' and describing Hunter Biden as acting like the 'chief of staff of the family.' He has also stated that 'conservative media was right' to raise concerns about Biden's age. House Republicans have already cited the book to justify an expanded investigation into what they claim is a cover-up of Biden's health. A representative for Tapper declined to comment when reached by The Post.
San Francisco Chronicle
15-06-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Will Democrats finally stop defending protesters who turn to thuggery?
This weekend marks the next step in a likely long hot summer of protest and the latest opportunity for Gavin Newsom and other Democrats to stop reflexively defending the 'peaceful protests' that have been occurring in Los Angeles and elsewhere without acknowledging that the rest of the country doesn't see them as entirely peaceful. If Democrats don't acknowledge the full picture of what's going on, the crew with trust issues with voters and a 38% approval rating, 5 points lower than the GOP — stands little chance of checking Donald Trump's fascistic rise. 'This is anarchy and true chaos,' Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., posted on X above an image of a burning car in Los Angeles. 'My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement.' 'One of the great lessons of 2024,' Biden-Harris campaign strategist David Plouffe told the authors of the new bestselling book, 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again' is that 'never again can we as a party suggest to people that what they're seeing is not true.' (Even though Trump does that daily.) But Democrats risk doing it again if protest-adjacent vandalism continues unchecked over the critical next few months. And that will hurt Democrats' chances of rallying Americans outside their shrinking tent against Trump. Historian Heather Cox Richardson, author of the newsletter 'Letters from an American,' said this summer's protests will be a 'fight for public opinion' with the goal being to persuade 3.5% of Americans to oppose Trump's agenda. There is little margin for error — or for protest interlopers to hijack the message that Trump is dangerously grabbing the power of a king and using it to punish immigrants and further enrich the wealthy. 'People sometimes mistake the idea that protests are designed to fight back against the system, and the people in the system,' Richardson said in an online video. 'In fact, the minute that you start to demonstrate violence, you lose all those people you need on your team, because they were kind of apathetic to begin with, and they just don't want to have any part of it.' So Democrats can't tell America that, as Plouffe put it, 'what they're seeing is not true.' But still some persist. 'The reality is we see peaceful protests launching in Los Angeles,' Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., told NBC's 'Meet the Press' last week. 'And again, any violence against police officers should not be accepted.' 'Angelenos are standing up for their city in a peaceful way,' Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, told CNN last week, adding as an aside, 'There are some anarchists.' Said Cox Richardson: 'Nonviolence is important, because that brings (supporters) on board. The minute they see violence, they don't want any part of it. So the protests on our side to take back American democracy must be nonviolent.' During his nationally televised address last week calling out Trump's overreach in taking over the national guard, Newsom tried to broaden the tent saying, 'This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next.' For Americans in other states to resist Trump, Newsom and other Democrats will have to simultaneously support the peaceful grassroots protests and sideline the thugs. It's the only way the movement spreads beyond the blue state choir. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is trying by framing the 8 p.m. curfew she implemented as remaining in effect 'to curb bad actors who do not support the immigrant community.' Demonstrations don't happen as often — or ever — in most of the U.S. Meanwhile, the Bay Area hosts demonstrations seven days a week. So for starters, the mere sight of thousands of people filling the streets is foreign, intimidating and a little bit scary to people who spent Saturday at Little League or cutting the grass in Kansas. As he assumes a larger profile on the national stage during this latest public tussle with Trump, Newsom needs to better explain the nuance of protests. Democrats to the left of Fetterman often call a protest 'peaceful' even if there are images of protesters lighting cars on fire and breaking windows and vandalizing businesses and property. Those acts are dismissed off-handedly as 'property damage' and not violence. (Tell that to the family businesses that have to replace their windows the next morning.) Yes, the vandals doing that damage constitute only a small fraction of the demonstrators, but they receive a disproportionate amount of air time — and that only helps Trump. Their actions need to be acknowledged more forcibly, called out as unlawful and very publicly prosecuted. Newsom understands this. 'If you incite violence — I want to be clear about this — if you incite violence or destroy our communities, you are going to be held to account. That kind of criminal behavior will not be tolerated. Full stop,' Newsom said in his nationally broadcast speech Tuesday, noting that 220 people had been arrested in Los Angeles and local law enforcement was reviewing video of the chaos 'to build additional cases and people will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.' His challenge is that parsing those differences between protesters is difficult and rarely done. I first wrote about those differences while covering dozens of Iraq War protests two decades ago. Many mass demonstrations in the Bay and L.A. often follow a similar arc: Thousands of people will peacefully and boisterously march in the streets for hours without incident. Chanting, waving signs, talking smack about the government (all protected under the First Amendment, as is waving a Mexican flag.) Then, in their wake, usually as the first wave of peaceful demonstrators is headed home, a 'breakaway' contingent of demonstrators unaffiliated with the main organizers will start breaking windows, tagging buildings with graffiti and engaging in other random acts of vandalism that have nothing to do with the theme of the demonstration other than being a different expression of rage. Often, they self-identify as anti-capitalist 'anarchists.' During the 2003 anti-war demonstrations, anarchists told me they were frustrated with conventional peace events and called for a breakaway march to 'bring some militancy' to the anti-war movement. 'What does (the main march) threaten? It can just be ignored like any other position people are taking,' said one anarchist, who asked not to be identified. Yet organizers of the main demonstrations rarely called out the thugs piggybacking on their protest. Some told me they were threatened when they did. So instead, when pressed, many often exonerated the splinter groups and their actions to me by saying, 'Let a thousand flowers bloom.' In other words, all kinds of protests are valid. There has long been a reluctance among activists to criticize fellow travelers, even those whose vandalism devalues the message the main demonstration is trying to send. Unless protest organizers do something to self-police these demonstration hijackers, their powerful, existential message — Trump is becoming a fascistic autocrat before our eyes — will be diluted. Or worse, ignored. It's time to pull the dandelions sprouting among the flowers. And while I'm hesitant to jump on the blame-the-media bandwagon, we own some responsibility here, too. Television coverage of these mass demonstrations, which provides most of the protest images consumed on all platforms, is rarely nuanced enough to draw the distinctions between the main marchers and the unaffiliated vandals gravy-training on their earnest intentions. TV reports invariably focus on the broken windows in the wake of an otherwise peaceful march rather than the message that the marchers were making about Trump's budding fascism. If it bleeds — or is broken — it leads on TV news. If Newsom and protest organizers don't mute the vandals this summer, then Trump wins the fight for public opinion. Those 'anarchists' will become Trump's best weapon as their behavior is contributing to the false narrative that American cities are out of control. Yeah, the anarchists are angry. A lot of us are angry. But burning and breaking stuff is damaging the common cause we share. We are right — and constitutionally endowed — to take to the street on behalf of law-abiding immigrants. But you're not helping if you're busting up stuff, or not calling out those who do. See something? Say something. And that starts with Newsom, who has to remember that he's now talking to the rest of America. Not just California.
