'Original Sin' book describes how Biden's inner circle limited work hours and access of aides
The book arrives May 20 days after Biden was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer, raising additional questions about his fitness for the presidency he left in January.
- One Cabinet member said Biden didn't appear to have dementia but that he would be 'tired, sloppy.'
- Another Cabinet member said 'access dropped off considerably in 2024.'
WASHINGTON − Former President Joe Biden's Cabinet members described how access to the oldest person to ever serve in the office "dropped off considerably in 2024," according to a new book about the president's decline during his final year in office.
“I don’t think he has dementia,” one Cabinet secretary said, according to the book "Original Sin" by Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios. “But the thing is, he’s an old man. The president can give you four to six good hours a day. When he got tired, sloppy isn’t the right word, but his guard was down.”
Another Cabinet secretary said instead of briefing Biden, the secretary would brief senior White House aides who passed along word to the the president.
“Access dropped off considerably in 2024, and I didn’t interact with him as much,” the Cabinet secretary said.
Book details Biden aides limiting working hours, access of Cabinet
The book released May 20 revealed a trove of revelations about how Biden's inner circle of White House aides limited the hours of the day that he worked, the length of speeches he gave and even the access members of his Cabinet had with him.
The authors argue that early signs of Biden's decline emerged during the 2020 presidential campaign, describing a scene where Biden forgot a senior adviser's name while on a December 2019 bus tour of Iowa.
Some of their sources argued the decline began toward the end of his years as vice president. During that time, Biden's eldest son Beau died of cancer and his son Hunter sank further into crack cocaine addition.
Four Cabinet secretaries spoke with the book's authors. They described heavily scripted Cabinet meetings where Biden relied heavily on notecards − a reliance that increased when reporters weren't in the room, some said.
The president became increasingly unavailable throughout 2024, the Cabinet members said, as Biden's inner circle, which was nicknamed the "Politburo," restricted direct access for briefings and decisions.
Biden administration run by 'Politburo' of close aides: book
The book's authors point the finger at "the Politburo" − a nickname for Biden's four closest advisers: Mike Donilon, Bruce Reed, Steve Ricchetti, and later Ron Klain − for simultaneously gatekeeping and shielding the president, who grew increasingly cloistered during his term. The president reportedly limited his meetings to the Politburo and his "top national security aides."
"There was clearly a deliberate strategy by the White House to have him meet with as few people as necessary," one Cabinet member said.
The group had financial and familial incentives, the authors reported. Ricchetti, Donilon, and Reed each had one or more children or nieces on staff in the executive branch. And Donilon, according to the book, demanded "approximately $4 million" to leave the White House and advise Biden's 2024 presidential campaign, an arrangement that reportedly "outraged" senior staff,
During the campaign, even after the disastrous debate performance that put the spotlight on Biden's declining mental acuity, the Politburo repeatedly told the president that he had a path to victory.
Biden ultimately made the call to pull out of the race, according to the authors, once it appeared that winning would require him to fight a "scorched-earth" campaign against both skeptical Democrats and Trump at the same time.
Book follows cancer diagnosis fueling questions about Biden's fitness for office
The release came a few days after the revelation that Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, one that has metastasized to the bone. The book doesn't mention cancer.
The ailment spurred widespread sympathy for the oldest person to ever serve as president. But it has also reinforced questions about his initial decision to run for reelection despite signs of physical frailty and the reality of advanced age.
"Why didn't the American people have a better sense of his health picture?" Vice President JD Vance asked reporters May 19 as he returned from Rome. "Why didn’t the American people have more accurate information about what he was actually dealing with? This is serious stuff."
Book follows release of recording of Biden's faulty memory
The book also comes days after a partial release of the recording of Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated why classified documents were found at his home and private office.
The Justice Department had released a transcript of the interview a year ago, but Republicans have pressed for the release of the audio recording for a better understanding of Biden's mental ability at the time. Hur decided not to prosecute Biden because jurors would have viewed him as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
At some times on the recording released by Axios on May 16, Biden speaks almost at a whisper and has long pauses between words as he answers questions. He struggles to recall key dates, such as the year when his eldest son Beau Biden died. A ticking clock in the background emphasized the time Biden spent answering.
Biden tries to counter book's criticism with public appearances
Biden and his wife Jill rebuffed criticism that he waited too long to drop out of the 2024 campaign through public appearances before the book's release.
Biden was peppered with several questions on ABC's "The View" about his decision-making in the final months of his term, his relationship with major party leaders and if he takes responsibility for Trump's decisive victory in November.
"I do, because look, I was in charge and he won," Biden said of 2020. "So I take responsibility."