The Story Behind Biden's Decision

The Story Behind Biden's Decision

By Edward Klein

Which ever way it goes — Biden to Launch a Presidential Campaign or Biden Takes Himself Out of the Running — the headlines and TV graphics have already been written by news outlets that have been preparing for the moment when Joe Biden finally makes up his mind whether to run for president.

None of the coverage, however, is likely to tell the story behind the story—the intrigue and deliberate deception at the highest levels of the political system that would ultimately determine Biden’s decision.

According to sources close to Biden, the vice president and President Obama, who has been urging Biden to run, have had numerous discussions about Biden’s chances of taking on Hillary in the Democrat primaries and knocking her out of the presidential race. In those talks, Biden has expressed doubt that he would be able to overcome Hillary’s advantage in timing, money, organization, and ground game.

The only way he could see himself getting into the race, Biden reportedly told the president, was if the White House assured him that it would support the FBI’s investigation of Hillary’s improper handling of classified documents on her private e-mail system and also encourage Attorney General Loretta Lynch to bring down an indictment against Hillary.

An indictment—even a misdemeanor—would almost certainly doom Hillary’s chances of getting the nomination.

In public, Obama has been reluctant to criticize Hillary. For instance, he recently told Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes” that he didn’t think Hillary intended to “hide something or to squirrel away information” on her private e-mail server and that she didn’t endanger national security.

Other sources—in this case, those close to the White House—admit that the president was being deceptive with Kroft because, as the head of his party, he has to be careful not to be seen as dissing the Democrats’ leading candidate for the presidency.

What’s more, the White House sources go on to say, the president doesn’t want to publicize the hidden depths of his blood feud with the Clintons.

In fact, these sources confirm that Obama sings a different tune in private. The president and his senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, have made it clear to James Comey, the director of the FBI, and the prosecutors in the Justice Department who are working in close collaboration with the FBI, that the White House wants a thorough investigation and, if warranted, a vigorous prosecution.

The sources report that the normally No Drama Obama recently threw a major fit in the Oval Office when Hillary asked for another meeting to discuss the FBI investigation.

“He leaped up from his desk and threw a rubber ball that he often plays with across the room,” a source said. “He paced the floor, his voice was raised, and told his aides, including Jarrett, to make sure that ‘any smidgen of wrongdoing’ that is in the Hillary files is turned over to the authorities.”

The source quoted Obama as saying: “I never want to see her [Hillary’s] face again. I never want her or Bill in this house lecturing me. They have no respect for this office or for me and I’m not taking it any more. She has lied about everything.”