Biden Chief of Staff Throws Him Under the Bus — And Reveals Hunter Biden Participated in Pardon Process

President Joe Biden listens as outgoing White House chief of staff Ron Klain, speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. At right is incoming chief of staff Jeff Zients. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Jeff Zients, former President Joe Biden’s chief of staff during the second half of his White House tenure, admitted to Biden’s decline during a closed-doors meeting with the House Oversight Committee on Thursday.

According to National Review‘s Audrey Fahlberg and James Lynch, Zients “stated that Biden’s decision-making capabilities slowed during the administration,” observing that “decisions that initially required three meetings eventually needed four.”

Zients said that he and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan agreed that Biden ought to step out of the 2024 presidential race after his disastrous performance in his debate with President Donald Trump last fall.

He also revealed that Hunter Biden — the former president’s son who was convicted on tax and gun charges, but was absolved of responsibility for his crimes when his father pardoned him in December of last year — participated in the administration’s pardon process despite his lack of a formal position within it.

On the final day of his presidency, Biden also handed out blanket pardons to other family members, including his brother James, his sister Valerie, his brother Francis, and their spouses.

Biden’s mental decline, ability to carry out his duties, and his initial decision to run for a second term was the defining political story of 2024. Under pressure from many in his party, he eventually agreed to step aside and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to face off against Trump in the general election.

Despite his eventual decision to drop out, he and his staff steadfastly maintained that he was not undergoing a debilitating decline throughout 2024 and even into this year.

“They are wrong,” Biden said of his critics during an appearance on The View in May.

“I saw him all throughout the day, and I did not create a cocoon around him,” added former First Lady Jill Biden. “I mean, you saw him in the Oval Office. You saw him making speeches. He wasn’t hiding somewhere. I didn’t have him, you know, sequestered in some place.”