Following an investigation by special counsel Robert Hur, Americans learned Joe Biden, who Hur characterized as a sympathetic, elderly man with a poor memory, is so mentally impaired he cannot be prosecuted for serial violations of classified document law spanning decades. He is, however, qualified to be President of the United States. That Biden violated even the Espionage Act by knowingly providing classified information to a ghost writer isn’t sufficient cause for prosecution.

Not so for Donald Trump who kept some such materials exclusively at Mar-A-Lago under continuous guard by the Secret Service. Trump did not provide materials to unqualified persons, was negotiating with the National Archives, gave the FBI unrestricted access, and made security upgrades they suggested--before being raided by the same FBI. Unlike Joe Biden, former presidents have authority under the Presidential Records Act—a civil, not a criminal, statute--to remove such documents.  Biden kept documents in multiple, unsecured places, including in an open box in his garage. 

A transcript of Biden’s hours-long interview (available here) with Hur has been released. The DOJ has recently admitted in a court filing that the transcript has been edited, though they pinky swear that editing is absolutely minimal, removing things Joe said like “uh,” “um,” and “I, I, I.’ Trust the DOJ.

The Congress, a committee of which is conducting an impeachment inquiry, wants the unedited recording. Attorney General Merrick Garland, the watchdog of the most transparent administration ever, has refused, making vague privilege assertions and also because AI could alter it, which would make Joe look bad. Garland is immune to the irony that the DOJ/White House have already altered the transcript, so how better to establish Joe’s transparency and the accuracy of the interview than to compare the admittedly altered transcript with the unaltered recording?

Garland is also claiming Congress has no legitimate legislative purpose in examining the recording, but as they’re conducting an impeachment inquiry, determining even more accurately that Joe gave at least one unauthorized person access to classified materials just might be a legitimate exercise of Congressional oversight authority.

Law professor Jonathan Turley is not impressed with Garland’s AI/Deep Fake dodge:

Consider the implications of that argument for a second. It would mean that any visual or audio recording of the President could be withheld due to the danger of digital or other manipulation. It would eviscerate any existing limits on privilege assertions.

It is also absurd since you could create such fake recordings using the transcript and Biden’s voice from countless interviews through AI programs. The Justice Department acknowledges that obvious logical disconnect by noting that the release would make any fake version more credible. [skip]

The filing is logically and legally absurd. It is also dangerous.

For a president who is already carefully insulated from questions and controlled in public appearances, the argument would allow staff to completely control any public or, more importantly, congressional review of his actual speech and discourse.

Virtually any media can be manipulated, and we now know the government has manipulated the interview transcript to make Biden appear less senile and incompetent. It’s not as though he’s worse behind closed doors than he is in public, as his recent visit to Normandy demonstrated on the world stage, as Dr. Jill led Joe away, leaving the French President to greet and thank elderly American veterans.

Garland also argues the Congress wants the recording to embarrass Biden. Surely that’s at least partially true, but were Biden’s mental state not inherently embarrassing and alarming, what other excuse could there be for keeping first-hand, best source information on the mental fitness of the President of the United States from the Congress or the American people? One would think a fit and competent president would want them to have that information, particularly in the few months remaining before a presidential election.

Very few Americans have read the transcript. It’s of a kind with what Americans see every week of Biden’s rapidly failing mind. He mumbles, can’t finish sentences, goes off on rhetorical, even nonsensical tangents, speaks nonsense and can’t remember much of anything. So what’s the value of having the recording? 

Transcripts are devoid of the essential elements of human interaction. They’re sterile, omitting pace, inflection, emotion, unnecessary pauses, and in the case of Joe Biden, concealing the depth of his dementia. That’s why his handlers are desperate to keep the public uninformed. Professor Turley has the last word:

It is the legal version of a deepfake — misrepresenting the law to mislead citizens into believing that they are better off with less information on the credibility and competence of their president.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.