A team of Biden administration insiders known as the ‘politburo’ were the ‘ultimate decision-makers’ running America as the president’s cognitive health declined, according to a new tell-all book.
A trio of senior political veterans who had known President Joe Biden for decades worked closely with his wife, Dr Jill Biden, and occasionally his troubled son, Hunter, to run the show, according to Jake Tapper’s book, Original Sin.
Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti and Bruce Reed were the core three decision-makers, the book claims, adding that former senior adviser to the president Annie Tomasini and former White House chief of staff Ron Klain were also ‘at times’ part of the group.
‘Five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board,’ one source told the authors, Tapper and Alex Thompson.
‘In practice, Bruce Reed was the real domestic policy adviser, Mike Donilon was the actual political director, Steve Ricchetti controlled Legislative Affairs, and Klain controlled a bit of everything.’
The book states that this group could, and would, make decisions without consulting department heads, keeping Biden at an arms length from his own cabinet members and even some of his political aides.
One anonymous insider told the authors: ‘I’ve never seen a situation like this before, with so few people having so much power. They would make huge economic decisions without calling [Treasury] Secretary Yellen.’
The phrase ‘politburo’ is generally reserved for the upper echelon of power within a communist state.
Donilon had served as a senior advisor to Biden from the beginning of his presidency, but had been a close confidante of Biden’s since at least the 1980s.
He was described as a ‘true believer’ in Biden, and enjoyed mutual trust with the president.
‘The president valued Mike Donilon’s advice so much that aides would later joke that if he wanted, he could get Biden to start a war,’ Thompson and Tapper wrote.
Klain had also known Biden since the 1980s and was influential over policy decisions and key messaging.
According to the book, Biden’s aides had heard him boast of Klain over the years. He would reportedly say: ‘Only one person here is smarter than me, and it’s Ron.’
The book claims: ‘Biden showed a particular deference to Klain even though his chief of staff was often more progressive. Biden had deep respect for Klain’s intellect.’
And Ricchetti was a counselor to Biden throughout the presidency, also working as chief of staff during his vice presidency under Barack Obama.
Obama had, according to the book, expressed concerns about the ‘hangers-on’ within Biden’s circle.
Hellbound and Down 