The Stream

Resolute: ‘My Memory is Fine’

The White House goes on the attack against the man who cleared Biden of criminal charges.

By Al Perrotta Published on February 11, 2024 •

Al Perrotta

“My memory is fine.”

This statement by Joe Biden after the release of the devastating Special Counsel report will rank with “Read my lips, “I did not have sex with that woman” and “I am not a crook” in the annals of presidential history. If after uttering “I am not a crook” Richard Nixon then promptly knocked over a bank on live national television.

At his hastily arranged press conference Thursday night, Joe Biden angrily denied Robert Hur’s assessment that he was a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Then promptly confused Mexico and Egypt and forgot the source of his rosary.

He also barked and snarled at reporters who challenged him, and lied about the contents of the report to the point he was even fact-checked by CNN. By CNN!

The report and this presser produced a one-two punch so catastrophic even the White House and mainstream media couldn’t hide it. Said Axios: “For years now, President Biden’s advisers have carefully choreographed his every move to avoid what exploded into view over six hours Thursday: a vivid display of an elderly, irritable man struggling on a public stage.”

The White House Spin: Attack Hur, the Man That Let Biden Slide for His Crimes

Yet by Friday morning, the White House had decided to take an astonishing approach. Rather than camping on their victory — no criminal charges, despite overwhelming evidence Biden “willfully retained and shared” classified information — they went on the warpath against the Special Counsel. They claimed Hur’s emphasis on Biden’s mental condition was “politically motivated,” “gratuitous” and an appeasement of Republicans. (If we had a dime for every time the White House and their media allies said “gratuitous” the past four days The Stream could afford a Super Bowl ad.)

Kamala Harris led the charge, strongly defending Biden’s mental faculties, and describing Hur’s emphasis on Biden’s memory loss as “clearly politically motivated.”

Harris is absolutely correct. But not in the way she wants you to think. As we’ve said since day one, Robert Hur’s specialty at his high-priced law firm was as a fixer. While you hire Jack Smith when you want to rub somebody out, you hire Hur when you want charges for a high-profile client to go away.

Clearly Joe Biden possessed classified information from his days in the Senate and VP that he was not supposed to have. Those documents were stored poorly and recklessly, here, there and everywhere. And the report makes clear Biden knew he had them as early as 2017. The law had him dead to rights.

You can’t pretend he didn’t have the nation’s top secrets spread around near his Corvette like polishing rags. You can’t not say he “willfully retained and shared” classified docs without charging him, given your DOJ bosses are persecuting Trump. So what’s the way out? Using the fact he’s mentally shot and feeble to argue no jury would have the heart to convict him.

Robert Hur’s task was to keep Biden from criminal charges while not completely torpedoing the Trump charges. “Mission Accomplished.” And this is the thanks he gets?

“Comey Moment”

You hear the White House and the media griping the Hur report is a “Comey Moment.” This is to fool the “False Information Voter.” You’ve heard of “low-information voters”? “False Information Voters” are the constantly misled viewers of CNN, MSNBC and shows like The View.

The false-information voter has been told for eight years that former FBI Director James Comey tanked Hillary’s chances in 2016 by reopening the investigation into her email scandal days before the election. He re-closed the case almost immediately, falsely claiming the FBI went through the tens of thousands of emails found on Anthony Weiner’s laptop.

What the media didn’t tell you is the only reason Comey re-opened the investigation so close to the election was Deputy Director Andrew McCabe hid the discovery of the emails from Comey for a full month, hoping to run out the clock on the election. He was forced to spill the beans when New York’s FBI office and the NYPD threatened to go public with all that was found on Weiner’s laptop.

The kicker is this very same Andrew McCabe who was fired for lying to the FBI about elements of the Hillary investigation and was instrumental in the Trump-Russia Collusion black op was on CNN blasting the Hur report as “nauseating.” And White House counsel spokesman Ian Sams used McCabe’s criticism — without mentioning his name, because that would give up the game — in attacking Hur’s report.

Release the Special Counsel Interview Video Then

The problem with the White House spin is that Americans have already seen with their own eye,s and have judged Biden unfit. Biden repeatedly has said “Watch me.” We have. According to NBC News polling, three quarters of Americans question Biden’s mental and physical fitness to be President.

If the White House insists the Big Guy is still a mental beast, and there are no signs of trouble in White House meetings, fine. Televise cabinet meetings or meetings with congressional leaders. Live. Unedited. Trump did that occasionally.

The Daily Caller reports Democrats are quietly pressuring Team Biden to have the president out in public more often, to help quash the story. Problem is, Biden was in public last week. Twice he riffed on talking to long-dead foreign leaders and forgot the name of Hamas. Then came the presser.

Actually, there’s a much easier way to prove Hur wrong. If Hur’s conclusion is so “gratuitous,” demand the immediate release of the video of his five-hour interview with the Special Counsel. If Biden’s “memory is fine,” that would be the first thing you would demand. So far, though? Crickets.

A reporter Friday asked about the video, and spokesman Sams immediately pivoted to written transcripts and shut her down.

Call for the release of the video? Fat chance. Biden Attorney Bob Bauer was directly asked by Face the Nation, and dodged and refused Sunday to commit to its release. 

Everybody Knows

The White House knows. The media knows. The New York Times Thursday spoke of the “gentleman’s agreement” in the media up to this point to not discuss Biden’s obvious infirmary.

And check out their coverage over the weekend.

The Democratic Party knows. Paul Begala helped elect Bill Clinton. He said Friday, “Look, I’m a Biden supporter. And I slept like a baby last night. I woke up every two hours crying and wet the bed. This is terrible for Democrats, and anybody with a functioning brain knows that.”

James Carville said Biden refusing to do the Super Bowl interview is a “sign.”

David Axelrod helped elect Obama-Biden. Good soldier that he is, Axelrod picked up the White House talking point calling the report “gratuitous” and a “shiv” in Biden’s back. Then added, “But often, the most damaging stories in presidential races are the ones that confirm negative impressions voters have already formed.”

And the polls are rather overwhelming. The American people know.

So what are we going to do about it?

What Now? The 25th Amendment

The 25th Amendment is on the table. House GOP leadership says Biden is “unfit for office.” Sen. Rick Scott of Florida says it’s time for the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment.

Sen. Josh Hawley is looking squarely at Attorney General Merrick Garland. If his DOJ declines charging Biden for his crimes because of Biden’s “poor memory,” then Garland has the duty to recommend to the Cabinet they invoke the 25th Amendment. On the flip side, if Garland buys the White House line, he has a duty to recommend charges be filed. The Big Guy can’t have it both ways. “Got to do one or the other.”

Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley argues the 25 Amendment threshold hasn’t been met. Plus, Turley says, if Biden insists to Congress he’s fine, ultimately Congress could only remove him with a two-thirds vote. Turley makes that out to be a long-shot. However, if the polls show Trump whipping Biden in a landslide, and the impeachment inquiry shows further proof of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” Democrats may well cut their losses.

Regardless, as Hawley says, Garland has to push for 25th Amendment or charge the president. And Congress must put pressure on the Cabinet and White House. And We the People — you know, the ones who suffer the fallout of a mentally incapacitated president — must speak out.

Putting Pressure on Dr. Jill

Perhaps there’s another way through. Increase the public heat on Jill Biden … excuse me, Doctor Jill Biden. You’ve got international media, such as The Telegraph wondering, “Is Jill Biden Secretly Running America?” Well, is she? We can demand to know.

Dr. Jill has said she earned her doctorate to gain status in the shadow of her senator husband Joe. She needs the label “Doctor.” It’s why she pressures people to call her that — to elevate her own status. She likes the status of “First Lady.” How would Dr. Jill handle being known as an elder abuser instead? After all the embarrassment and humiliation she’s allowed Joe to experience, one suspects she won’t say, “It’s time, Joe,” until she’s the one whose public approval rating falls.

But now we get to the conundrum. Suppose the 25th Amendment starts gaining steam, or Jill finally throws in the fine White House towel. The Federalist asks, “How do you solve a problem like Kamala Harris?”

There is actually a way, which we can talk about next time. Until then we must deal with the harsh reality: The nuclear button is in the hands of someone an official government investigation has concluded is too mentally incompetent to stand trial. Better a word salad than a nuclear winter.

 

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and co-author of the counter-terrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.

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