Ex-Clinton WH Official: Biden In ‘Very, Very Big’ Trouble Over Document Scandal, Will Get ‘Creamed’
Former Clinton administration David Gergen, official now political analyst CNNBiden had been warned by a late-week source that the scandal involving classified documents could turn out to be a nightmare.
Anderson Cooper asked Gergen, network opinion host, how much of a mess Biden is in. Gergen responded that it was not very big. “It’s very, very big.”
“Not legally, but politically,” Gergen claimed. “It’s a very, very big deal.”
Gergen’s claim may not be entirely accurate, as Attorney General Merrick Garland announced last week that he appointed a special counsel to oversee the federal investigation into the scandal.
“I do think that they, that the Biden people, they may be making a big mistake,” Gergen said. “I don’t think sitting there, hunkering down now, you’re just acting like it’s not out there … they’re going to get creamed doing that.”
Gergen stated that the Biden administration’s handling of the matter will lead the American public into asking the question. “What are they hiding?”
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Want to talk about the political fallout, which could be considerable, and unwelcome to the administration, certainly, coming, as Phil Mattingly mentioned, with inflation cooling, and gas prices dropping, and the President’s approval numbers growing, in the polls, at least before this.
CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen, a White House insider for Democrats as well Republicans, is joining us. She’s Washington Bureau Chief for The Boston Globe.
David Gergen, let’s start with you. What a mess this is for the Biden administration!
DAVID GERGEN PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER to NIXON. FORD. REAGAN &CLINTON. CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST. AUTHOR. “HEARTS TOUCHED WITH FIRE: HOW GREAT LEADERS ARE MADE”: It’s very, very big. Not legally, but politically, it’s a very, very big deal.
This was a President who was moving upward. For the first time in his presidency, he’s got his numbers up, people are feeling better about the economy, for all sorts of reasons, to believe that he can now present himself — the fears that people like me have, about how old is he and can he govern well. If he can keep on this track, those fears will vanish.
But now, along comes this gigantic story, which was totally unexpected, and it’s knocked that — the knock for six–
COOPER: Yes.
GERGEN: –the original plan, now.
Anderson, however, I believe they, the Biden people, may be making a major mistake. But I might be wrong. I think they’ve done a wonderful job being cooperative with the government, and they’ve done it, quote, by the book, as they were saying.
But I don’t think sitting there, hunkering down now, just acting like it’s not out there, is a good strategy. They’re going to get creamed doing that.
COOPER: There’s also been the drip, drip, drip of information.
GERGEN: Yes.
COOPER: Some of that unpreventable because they didn’t know a Special Counsel was coming.
GERGEN: Yes.
COOPER: But they did know when they had the President talk about the first batch of documents that were found–
GERGEN: Yes.
COOPER: –they had already known that there were other documents found.
GERGEN: Yes.
COOPER: You would think they might have just jumped — announced that all at once?
GERGEN: Exactly. That’s why they could have put that out there.
COOPER: Right.
GERGEN
COOPER: Yes.
GERGEN: And that’s where they — there’s a temptation in every one of these kinds of crises, to hunker down. And it’s the wrong temptation. It’s the wrong temptation to listen to — look to — you going all the way back to Iran/Contra, and other kind of crises, like that. You’ve just got to get the facts out.
COOPER: Yes.
GERGEN: “These are the facts we know. There’s some facts we don’t know. And we’ll keep you posted.”
COOPER: Jackie, do you think this largely takes away the White House’s ability to criticize former President Trump’s handling of classified documents? There are clearly big differences between them.
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE: Yes.
COOPER : But how often does nuance in political discourse make a breakthrough these days? I mean, rarely.
KUCINICH: Well, yes. And that’s the thing, right? This is a sure way to muddy the waters, and I’m sure this is what Republicans are thrilled about.
I mean, when you look at the House Republican majority, there was a perception that many of these investigations were essentially fishing expeditions. Well, because of this, they were thrown a fish, and they’re actually able to grab onto something. And this, it does mute the ability to criticize President Trump in the — former President Trump in the same way.
And let’s be clear, this isn’t happening in a
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