What's Up With Joe?

I'm deeply skeptical of this week's news. Israel, as it has every right to do, has carefully controlled news from its war in Gaza to the point that anything we hear is days old at best, and it reveals almost nothing. So naturally, across the board, legacy media and Conservative Inc lead with Israel-Hamas non-news or the sideshow of pro-Hamas demonstrations elsewhere. There are occasional notes that Joe Biden hasn't been very visible for much of the week -- his big event was tripping on some steps in Philadelphia yesterday.

But enough other news still dribbles out to convince me there's stuff we aren't being told. For instance, it sounds as if, instead of being in the White House Situation Room being briefed with his cabinet on the Hamas war, Joe spent Sunday and Monday of the holiday weekend in an interview with Robert Hur, the special counsel for his own classified document investigation:

Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, said in a statement that the voluntary interview was conducted at the White House on Sunday and Monday as Biden and his national security team grappled with their response to the surprise weekend attack on Israel by Hamas militants and as the president received some criticism for not being more visible during the crisis.

It’s not clear when Hur’s team approached Biden’s lawyers about an interview or how long they’d been negotiating. Asked on Aug. 25 if he planned to sit for an interview with the special counsel, Biden replied, “There’s no such request and no such interest.”

The interview could signal that the special counsel investigation is nearing its conclusion.

But another story that seems to have gone almost unnoticed yesterday suggests this may be wishful thinking:

The House Oversight Committee this week revealed that five White House employees were involved in Biden’s stolen classified documents case.

. . . Recall that it was reported that Joe Biden’s attorney [Patrick Moore] first discovered “Obama-Biden administration documents in a locked closet while packing files as they prepare to close out Biden’s office in the Penn Biden Center” in November 2022.

. . . Joe Biden’s former assistant as Vice President, Kathy Chung, in April testified to the House Oversight Committee about the mishandling of classified documents by Biden since his time as Vice President.

Chung testified that White House Counsel Dana Remus tasked her with retrieving boxes of classified documents from Penn Biden Center as early as May 2022.

Joe Biden knew about his own classified documents scandal brewing long before he directed his DOJ to raid Mar-a-Lago – the timeline actually goes back to March 2021.

According to new information released by the House Oversight Committee, Joe Biden lied about the timeline. Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President and Director of Oval Office Operations, went to Penn Biden Center to take inventory of President Biden’s documents and materials on March 18, 2021.

Biden lied by omission!

“We have discovered new information about the number of White House employees involved in President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents,” the House Oversight Committee said on Wednesday.

“President Biden’s attorney stated that the discovery of classified documents at Penn Biden Center occurred on November 2, 2022.” they said.

“Our Committee has developed evidence showing the timeline of relevant events began in 2021 and involved at least five White House employees,” the Republican-led Committee said.

“President Biden and his legal team omitted months of communications, planning, and coordinating among multiple White House officials, a former VP staffer, Penn Biden Center employees, and President Biden’s personal attorneys to retrieve the boxes containing classified materials.” the Oversight said. “There is no reasonable explanation as to why this many White House employees and lawyers were so concerned with retrieving boxes they reportedly believed contained only personal documents and materials.”

On January 30 of this year, I posted about Patrick Moore, who by the received narrative at the time was the White House counsel who "discovered" the Penn Biden Center document cache on November 2, 2022. By then, it was reported that Moore

then informed the National Archives and Justice Department.

. . . On Tuesday [January 17] it emerged that Moore has already spoken to John Lausch, the U.S. Attorney for the northern district of Illinois.

Lausch was initially tasked with investigating the classified material; his job has now been taken over by the special counsel, Robert Hur, who was appointed on January 12.

In the new context of the information from the Comer committee, it looks as though Moore dsicovered he'd become involved in something much bigger than cleaning out an office closet, went straight to the National Archives and Justice Department, quit his job as White House counsel, withdrew from the case, and went home to Boston. Something's hinky here.

The Comer committee letter to White House Counsel Edward Siskel lists five specific episodes in which White House staff, as well as Biden retainer Kathy Chung, at the Defense Deparment at that time, reiviewed the Penn Biden Center documents between April and October before calling in Patrick Moore, who it strikes me was something of a designated chump who'd "discover" the cache. It looks like Moore quickly understood his problem, went to the authorities, and skedaddled.

CNN comments on the Hur interview over the holiday weekend:

Compared to special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into classified materials found at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, including the indictment handed down in June, Hur’s probe into Biden has continued to operate quietly behind the scenes.

Still, the protracted length and exhaustive nature of the investigation has frustrated top Biden aides who expected it to wrap up months ago given the relatively small number of classified documents involved, according to a person familiar with the White House’s thinking.

That person said some Biden aides believe Attorney General Merrick Garland was overly cautious in selecting Hur, an appointee to two top Justice Department roles during the Trump administration, to ensure the investigation was politically unassailable.

I'm fascinated by the disconnect between Joe's public activities and what seems to be going on behind the scenes. Last month, it was reported,

The president, 80, has taken several stumbles in his nearly three years in office - falling while boarding Air Force One, tripping on various staircases, and taking a dramatic tumble at the Air Force Academy when he encountered a sandbag.

Now, as polls show a majority of voters are increasingly concerned about his age, Biden's team is taking extra steps to prevent him from stumbling in public, Axios reported, betting that any mockery he receives will be worth it to avoid a public tumble.

The measures, according to that story, briefly included having him wear sketchers without socks, but the photo at the top of this post shows him back to dress shoes, long socks, and garters. In other words, same old same old, along with a campaign stop where he pitched Bidenomics. His problem, that he can't hold a traditional press conference where he might get questions on US hostsges in Gaza, Afghanistan weapons going to Hamas, Hunter, Robert Malley, the Penn Biden Center, or many other areas, continues -- and his handlers still haven't been able to solve the problem of tripping on stairways.

They just won't mention that other stuff, hope nothing new comes up, and maybe they can still stop him from tripping on stairs.