Latest news with #BruceReed
Fox News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Biden camp skipped Super Bowl interview amid Robert Hur report concerns: Source
Former President Joe Biden's campaign team allegedly opted against a Super Bowl interview last year because of Special Counsel Robert Hur's report, Fox News Digital has learned. A source familiar with Anita Dunn's interview with the House Oversight Committee told Fox News Digital that the report – in which Hur described Biden as "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" – played a factor in the then-president breaking with the decades-old tradition. But a source close to Dunn told Fox News Digital that she said Biden's team decided against doing a Super Bowl interview last year because they thought the main coverage would be about what he did with classified records and not about the president's policy decisions. They claimed the choice was made before Hur's report was released. Dunn sat with House investigators for just over five hours on Thursday, as Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., probes allegations that Biden's inner circle worked to conceal evidence of mental decline in the former president. The source familiar with her interview said Dunn also told committee staff that Biden's inner circle came to a consensus he should not take a cognitive test, concluding it would offer no political benefit to the then-president. It comes two days after Fox News Digital was told that ex-deputy White House chief of staff Bruce Reed, who met with House investigators on Tuesday, said Biden's White House physician Kevin O'Connor called cognitive tests "meaningless." The source close to Dunn said Thursday that Biden's team believed he would be able to pass a cognitive test, even if they saw no political benefit in one. Dunn also told investigators that she was not aware of Biden's stutter, which he's said he dealt with all his life, until media coverage of it in 2020, the first source said. "She went on to blame the media for pushing the narrative that President Biden was old," the source said. The practice of pre-Super Bowl interviews began with former President George W. Bush opting to sit for an interview before the big game in 2004 and has been since followed by both former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump – though Trump also skipped out on a Super Bowl interview in 2019. Biden sat for Super Bowl interviews in 2021 and 2022, but did not in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, talks about a pre-Super Bowl interview fell through with Fox Corp. Hur's report was released publicly on Feb. 8, 2024. The Super Bowl took place that year on Feb. 11. He was appointed special counsel by former Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2023 to investigate whether Biden mishandled classified documents. Hur "uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice-presidency when he was a private citizen" but said it did not "establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." Given that Biden "would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," Hur said, "it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him – by then a former president well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness." Dunn is the tenth ex-Biden administration official to appear before the House Oversight Committee. In addition to investigating the alleged cover-up, Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is also looking into whether decisions were approved via autopen without the former president's knowledge. Of particular interest to Comer is the myriad of clemency orders Biden signed in the latter half of his presidency, though the former president told The New York Times last month that he was behind every decision. Dunn, like most of those who appeared before her, defended Biden's mental acuity to committee investigators. "The President made it clear that decisions rested with him, and White House staff brought issues to him for him to decide," Dunn said in her opening statement, obtained by Fox News Digital. "I believed strongly then, and I believe just as strongly today, that Joe Biden was an effective President who accomplished many important things for the American people." A spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee criticized Dunn after the statement came out in the media, however. "It's no surprise Anita Dunn is telling the American people not to believe their own eyes, claiming Joe Biden was sharp and 'fully engaged.' This opening statement, leaked to media before Ms. Dunn even delivered it, is yet another example of the absurd lengths Biden loyalists will go to defend his failed presidency," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital also reached out to a representative for Biden and to Dunn's counsel for comment.
Fox News
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Ex-Biden aide Bruce Reed ignores reporters ahead of cover-up probe interview
Former deputy chief of staff for policy Bruce Reed arrived on Capitol Hill for his closed-door deposition with the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday.
Fox News
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
9th ex-Biden aide appears before House Oversight investigators in autopen probe
Ex-White House deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed is sitting down with congressional investigators probing whether top Biden administration aides covered up signs of mental decline in the former president. Reed arrived just before 10 a.m. on Tuesday, saying nothing to reporters on his way into the closed-door interview with staff on the House Oversight Committee. The longtime Biden ally is the ninth former White House official to appear in the probe and the sixth to come in voluntarily — three others, ex-White House doctor Kevin O'Connor and former advisors Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini, were compelled via congressional subpoena. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., is investigating whether former President Joe Biden's inner circle covered up signs of mental decline, and whether that means autopen signatures were used for executive decisions without Biden's full awareness. Of particular interest to investigators are the myriad clemency orders signed toward the end of Biden's presidency. But the former president and his allies have pushed back on any allegations of impropriety. Biden himself told The New York Times last month that he was behind every decision made on pardons and commutations. Reed, like many of those who appeared before him, has a relationship with Biden going back over a decade. He was chief of staff to the vice president under the Obama administration from January 2011 until December 2013. Reed's tenure in that role was bookended by Ron Klain and Steve Ricchetti, respectively — both of whom have already spoken to House investigators on voluntary terms. It's not likely, however, that Reed's testimony will provide any sort of smoking gun for investigators. The Biden allies who have appeared voluntarily so far have all asserted they believed the ex-president was fully capable of being commander-in-chief, though some, like Klain, have conceded his memory got duller over time. Others, like Ricchetti and ex-senior advisor Mike Donilon, suggested they believed Biden remained as sharp as ever and would have been for another four years, sources said previously. In contrast, those who appeared under subpoena all pleaded the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering any substantive questions. Reed was reportedly among the former aides dubbed as part of Biden's "Politburo" calling shots at the White House toward the end of his term, according to Axios reporter Alex Thompson and CNN host Jake Tapper, who wrote, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again." No lawmakers are expected to sit in for Reed's transcribed interview; it's common for such sit-downs to be staff-led by lawyers for both Democrats and Republicans on the committee. It could go on for several hours, however. All the five transcribed interviews before Reed's took at least four hours. Ricchetti's notably went roughly eight hours.
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Biden's shadow handlers who allegedly ran the White House revealed
A team of Biden administration insiders known as the 'politburo' were the 'ultimate decision-makers' running America as the president's cognitive health declined, according to a new tell-all book. A trio of senior political veterans who had known President Joe Biden for decades worked closely with his wife, Dr Jill Biden, and occasionally his troubled son, Hunter, to run the show, according to Jake Tapper's book, Original Sin. 'Five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board,' one source told the authors, Tapper and Alex Thompson. 'In practice, Bruce Reed was the real domestic policy adviser, Mike Donilon was the actual political director, Steve Ricchetti controlled Legislative Affairs, and Klain controlled a bit of everything.' The book states that this group could, and would, make decisions without consulting department heads, keeping Biden at an arms length from his own cabinet members and even some of his political aides. One anonymous insider told the authors: 'I've never seen a situation like this before, with so few people having so much power. They would make huge economic decisions without calling [Treasury] Secretary Yellen.' The phrase 'politburo' is generally reserved for the upper echelon of power within a communist state. Donilon had served as a senior advisor to Biden from the beginning of his presidency, but had been a close confidante of Biden's since at least the 1980s. He was described as a 'true believer' in Biden, and enjoyed mutual trust with the president. 'The president valued Mike Donilon's advice so much that aides would later joke that if he wanted, he could get Biden to start a war,' Thompson and Tapper wrote. Klain (pictured with Biden) had also known Biden since the 1980s and was influential over policy decisions and key messaging. According to the book, Biden's aides had heard him boast of Klain over the years. He would reportedly say: 'Only one person here is smarter than me, and it's Ron.' The book claims: 'Biden showed a particular deference to Klain even though his chief of staff was often more progressive. Biden had deep respect for Klain's intellect.' And Ricchetti (pictured) was a counselor to Biden throughout the presidency, also working as chief of staff during his vice presidency under Barack Obama. Obama had, according to the book, expressed concerns about the 'hangers-on' within Biden's circle. According to the book, both Jill and Hunter Biden were prominent and permanent fixtures within Biden's circle of trust. This is despite aides and insiders partially blaming Hunter for the president's rapid deterioration. 'To understand Joe Biden's deterioration, top aides told us, one has to know Hunter's struggles,' the book stated. While promoting his book, Tapper was asked about Hunter's role in the administration and influence over his father. Fueled by information garnered through interviews with more than 200 people for the book, Tapper answered: 'I think Hunter was driving the decision-making for the family in a way that people - he was almost like a chief of staff of the family. 'It's bizarre because I think he is provably demonstrably unethical, sleazy, and prone to horrible decisions,' Tapper - whose book is called Original Sin - added. 'After his brother died, he cheated on his wife with his brother's widow and then got her addicted to crack. I don't have a lot of personal regard for him, and just based on having nothing to do with,' he added later on. 'I barely have ever met him. I've met him like once or twice.'
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
The Biden shadow handlers who were REALLY running the White House, insiders reveal
A team of Biden administration insiders known as the 'politburo' were the 'ultimate decision-makers' running America as the president's cognitive health declined, according to a new tell-all book. A trio of senior political veterans who had known President Joe Biden for decades worked closely with his wife, Dr Jill Biden, and occasionally his troubled son, Hunter, to run the show, according to Jake Tapper's book, Original Sin. Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti and Bruce Reed were the core three decision-makers, the book claims, adding that former senior adviser to the president Annie Tomasini and former White House chief of staff Ron Klain were also 'at times' part of the group. 'Five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board,' one source told the authors, Tapper and Alex Thompson. 'In practice, Bruce Reed was the real domestic policy adviser, Mike Donilon was the actual political director, Steve Ricchetti controlled Legislative Affairs, and Klain controlled a bit of everything.' The book states that this group could, and would, make decisions without consulting department heads, keeping Biden at an arms length from his own cabinet members and even some of his political aides. One anonymous insider told the authors: 'I've never seen a situation like this before, with so few people having so much power. They would make huge economic decisions without calling [Treasury] Secretary Yellen.' The phrase 'politburo' is generally reserved for the upper echelon of power within a communist state. Donilon had served as a senior advisor to Biden from the beginning of his presidency, but had been a close confidante of Biden's since at least the 1980s. He was described as a 'true believer' in Biden, and enjoyed mutual trust with the president. 'The president valued Mike Donilon's advice so much that aides would later joke that if he wanted, he could get Biden to start a war,' Thompson and Tapper wrote. Klain had also known Biden since the 1980s and was influential over policy decisions and key messaging. According to the book, Biden's aides had heard him boast of Klain over the years. He would reportedly say: 'Only one person here is smarter than me, and it's Ron.' The book claims: 'Biden showed a particular deference to Klain even though his chief of staff was often more progressive. Biden had deep respect for Klain's intellect.' And Ricchetti was a counselor to Biden throughout the presidency, also working as chief of staff during his vice presidency under Barack Obama. Obama had, according to the book, expressed concerns about the 'hangers-on' within Biden's circle. Most recently, former White House aide Annie Tomasini found herself caught in the crossfires of fury over Biden's use of autopen during his term. Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer confirmed last week he had tried to subpoena three key White House aides during the Biden administration - including Tomasini. He said 'the Biden White House obstructed the Committee's investigation and refused to make the aides available for depositions or interviews.' According to the book, both Jill and Hunter Biden were prominent and permanent fixtures within Biden's circle of trust. This is despite aides and insiders partially blaming Hunter for the president's rapid deterioration. 'To understand Joe Biden's deterioration, top aides told us, one has to know Hunter's struggles,' the book stated. While promoting his book, Tapper was asked about Hunter's role in the administration and influence over his father. Fueled by information garnered through interviews with more than 200 people for the book, Tapper answered: 'I think Hunter was driving the decision-making for the family in a way that people - he was almost like a chief of staff of the family. 'It's bizarre because I think he is provably demonstrably unethical, sleazy, and prone to horrible decisions,' Tapper - whose book is called Original Sin - added. 'After his brother died, he cheated on his wife with his brother's widow and then got her addicted to crack. 'I don't have a lot of personal regard for him, and just based on having nothing to do with,' he added later on.
