Bidenworld HUNKERS DOWN For Public Release of Special Counsel Hur's Interview Transcript: Report

[0:06] Biden World is preparing a counteroffensive to the public release of the transcript of Biden's [0:11] five-hour interview with Special Counsel Robert Herr. Anticipating the document will lead to [0:16] renewed speculation over Biden's mental health. Per NBC News, Biden's aides anticipate a lengthy [0:22] partisan clash over the transcript and possibly the audio recording that would keep the president [0:27] on the defensive over questions about his mental fitness as he campaigns for re-election. [0:32] This comes as House Republicans have demanded that the Justice Department release the transcript of [0:37] the interview by next Monday. The House Oversight Committee posted to its ex-account that Americans [0:43] deserve transparency about President Biden's mental state and his mishandling of classified documents, [0:50] along with the four-page letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding the transcript. [0:55] Now, I would think, Jessica, that if this interview were not as bad as Robert Herr says it is, [1:02] the White House has repeatedly accused the Special Counsel of exaggerating the misremembered [1:08] details, the memory loss that he identified in this 400-page report, then they should want the [1:13] transcript to be released. The transcript and the audio recording should be able to disprove the [1:19] allegations that Robert Herr made in his report. Yeah, I can see how it would be taken out of [1:25] context if Biden was in rough shape that night, given that the events of October 7th were what they [1:30] were, and he was dealing with an international crisis. We know how these things go. When you [1:36] have an ally of the United States dealing with the attack by Hamas on a settlement that, you know, [1:42] Israel made, and you have the subsequent fallout of, you know, all ceasefire deals were off. You have [1:51] Israel preparing for a ground invasion in Gaza, repeatedly bombing Gaza. I imagine the president was [1:57] probably up all night the night before, right? We had this happen on October 8th and 9th. So I can [2:03] really see that even someone like me, if I was up all night the night before an interview, would not [2:08] do so well. But I don't know. We see Biden have all of these gaffes play out on primetime television. [2:15] We see Biden, you know, forget where the door is, hold up cue cards. We really have enough. [2:19] I think if what the purpose of this is, is to say, look, he's way too old to be president. I think we [2:26] already have enough on that. I don't think, you know, what happened in this interview would change [2:30] that aside from, you know, people really making a meal out of saying, look, this is his cognitive [2:35] state. This is what he's like when cameras aren't on him. But I think he was in especially rough shape [2:39] when this was recorded. And maybe that's not a fair, a fair judgment to make. [2:44] Yeah. I mean, in that case, I feel like the White House and the communications officials and lawyers [2:48] there should have probably delayed the interview. I mean, it doesn't seem like a very wise strategy. [2:54] If you're sitting down for a five-hour deposition with the DOJ, who's looking into your willful [2:59] retention of classified documents, if your mind is elsewhere, if you are distracted as the president, [3:04] maybe you should put that off a little bit longer. I think the other concerning aspect of [3:08] this special counsel report is the way that the Biden administration has repeatedly misidentified [3:15] and arguably lied about its contents. And Sam's, who's a communications director with the White [3:21] House, has twice now sent a four-page letter to the White House press corps, accusing them of [3:27] misrepresenting the report, claiming that there was no evidence that Robert Herr presented that Biden [3:32] willfully retained classified information or shared it with other people. It says it on page two of the [3:38] report that he willfully retained classified information and shared it with other people. [3:41] The only rub was that Robert Herr felt like a jury wouldn't ever convict Biden, and so it wasn't [3:47] worth bringing charges because of his status as a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory. [3:54] And Biden even said in that press conference that he trotted out on Thursday after the report was [3:59] released that it showed that he did not share classified information, which is the opposite of [4:06] what the report said. It indicated that he did have conversations with his ghostwriter about [4:11] information that was contained in those reports. And then further, the ghostwriter arguably obstructed [4:17] justice by deleting the audio recordings that would have proven that Biden was in fact doing that. [4:23] And then, of course, on the memory issues we have in that press conference, Biden coming out, [4:27] forgetting where his son's rosary is from, the name of the church, and then immediately mixing up the [4:32] presidents of Mexico and Egypt. And then also in the aftermath, the White House leaking this idea [4:40] that it was Robert Herr being disrespectful by bringing up Beau Biden's death. And so the quibbles [4:48] over what year he died shouldn't have been in the report in the first place. But new reporting now [4:53] indicates that it was actually Joe Biden himself who brought up Beau's death, and that Robert Herr [4:58] might have been asking questions about Beau generally. And then Biden was using his tragic [5:03] passing as a way of trying to garner sympathy from the DOJ. So from start to finish, they've been [5:09] incredibly dishonest about the entire process, which only I think lends further criticism as to [5:16] the contents of the report and what they indicate about Biden's retention of classified documents, [5:21] as well as his issues with his cognitive decline. [5:23] I'm sure there was a conversation in the White House on October 7th that was, we're going to seem [5:30] like we're getting in the way of due process, that we have something to hide if we don't do this, [5:34] this deposition tomorrow, if we don't give our testimony. And there was probably some calculation [5:39] of how that would shake out in the media, given that Biden's administration and people close to Biden [5:44] were extremely critical of Donald Trump not immediately complying and giving the classified [5:50] documents in the same way that Pence did, in the same way that Biden did. Donald Trump denied that [5:56] he had documents for a period of time, refused to turn them in. So I think, yeah, Biden probably felt [6:03] that if he didn't testify, that there would be a media circus about his noncompliance. I think that's [6:09] why in his speech, when responding to all of this, he said, you know, I complied with everything they [6:14] asked for. I was in the room for five hours giving testimony amidst this international crisis. I think [6:20] he really made a point of that because it's clear that he didn't push it back for a specific reason. [6:26] I think that makes sense, not wanting it to play out in the media in that way. But what we have now [6:31] going into 2024, two presidents who withheld classified documents upon leaving office were kind [6:37] of reckless with them. And also, you have Biden mixing up the president of Egypt with the president [6:44] of Mexico, saying the president of Mexico, Sisi, when he really meant to, you know, either say [6:51] Lopez Obrador or the president of Egypt, LCC. And then you have President Trump or former President [6:58] Trump talking about Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley and confusing those two. It seems that we're not [7:04] sending our best, that the people up for office shouldn't be 80 plus years old. We need some [7:10] people who are younger. It seems to me a national security concern, because if President Biden wasn't [7:15] sharp enough to be up for a period of time and then do this deposition, a younger guy might have been. [7:20] And also, was he making his best decisions around the international crisis and his relationship with [7:26] Netanyahu? He could have had some leverage to say, let's not react disproportionately to this [7:32] and cause a huge outbreak of violence in the Middle East, which we've seen happen. [7:36] We need someone who has the energy to differentiate important political figures and also be up during [7:43] times of international crisis and hopefully someone who won't keep classified documents and forget that [7:49] they're there. Yeah, I suppose that's kind of my issue with the White House's defense, too, with [7:53] saying that he basically gets a pass because he did the interview on October 8th, the day after this [7:59] international crisis broke out, because you would hope that the president is capable of juggling [8:04] multiple serious issues at a time. I mean, that's basically the whole premise of the job, is that [8:11] you're going to have more than one crisis probably happening at once during some point in your [8:16] presidency, and you hope that that person is capable of handling that. I think it's also worth pointing [8:21] out that the White House had the report from Special Counsel Robert Herr one week, or almost one full week, [8:28] before Biden went out and gave that press conference. And so the fact that that press conference came [8:33] off as very hastily put together, Biden was very angry, he told lies about what was in the report, [8:41] was a very damning indictment of the White House's ability to handle this report. I think it indicates [8:48] that it's as bad as everybody is saying it is. And then we'll also continue to track this because, [8:53] of course, the House Republicans are demanding this transcript and to know a little bit more about what [8:58] was in the documents because there was a lot of overlap between Hunter Biden's influence peddling [9:03] abroad, as well as his father's responsibilities when he was vice president and his access to [9:10] intelligence documents. So we're going to keep track of this and see if they get the transcript [9:14] out. And if we do, we'll I'm sure read some of it right here on air. We'll be back with more rising after this.