Biden Insider Turns Tables With Epstein Jab in Capitol Hallway Confrontation
Andrew Bates isn’t exactly a household name, at least outside the households of DC and NYC area political media obsessives. But an interaction he had with reporters has gone viral in a manner that could lead to him becoming more widely known, if not celebrated in some progressive circles.
The former deputy communications officer in the Biden White House was called before the House Oversight Committee this week to testify about what he knew of former President Joe Biden’s health and mental acuity. And to be clear, there are legitimate questions there. The president’s age, verbal slips, and visible stumbles have fueled growing concern. Republicans are eager to exploit any opportunity to keep that conversation alive, and perhaps distract from narratives less kind to President Donald Trump.
When Bates left the hearing, however, he declined to address any of it. Surrounded by reporters pressing him on Biden’s health, he ignored the questions and instead tossed out one of his own: Why was convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell quietly moved to a minimum-security prison?
“Do you have any updates about President Biden’s health? Did you know he had cancer when he was still in the White House? Were you aware of that?” a reporter shouted as he entered an elevator.
“I want to know why Ghislaine Maxwell is in a minimum security prison,” he calmly replied as the elevator doors closed for dramatic effect.
It seemed like an improvised, but no less clever pivot — and also a revealing one. Rather than defending Biden or pushing back on the GOP narrative, Bates tried to redirect attention to a scandal still smoldering around Trump’s orbit.
The Epstein saga remains radioactive — and politically potent — precisely because so much about Maxwell’s prosecution and incarceration remains opaque. That includes her curious meeting with Todd Blanche, Trump’s onetime defense attorney turned Deputy Attorney General, and the hidden-camera sting from right-wing activist James O’Keefe, in which a DOJ official claimed Trump’s Justice Department cut a deal to keep Maxwell quiet.
In one fell swoop, Bates sidestepped the Biden-health feeding frenzy and pointed the press toward a scandal that lands squarely in Trumpworld. It’s not hard to see the political upside. Biden’s critics are left shouting into the void about a storyline the public has already tuned out, while the words “Trump,” “Epstein,” and “cover-up” suddenly share oxygen in the same news cycle.
Republicans wanted Bates to provide fodder for their “Biden-is-failing” narrative.
Instead, he gave them something much worse: a reminder that the Epstein mess doesn’t go away just because Trump would prefer it vanish. For Democrats, that’s not just a clever deflection — it’s a lesson in how to play offense.
Watch above via Fox News Digital.
