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Hillary Clinton sounded alarm on Biden’s political viability ‘by 2024,’ Klain told House investigators
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Ex-President Joe Biden’s former chief of staff Ron Klain told House investigators that Hillary Clinton approached him with concerns about the octogenarian leader’s political viability «by 2024,» Fox News Digital has learned.
Klain spoke with staff on the House Oversight Committee for over five hours on Thursday, as Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., continues to probe whether top Biden aides concealed signs of mental decline in the ex-president.
A source familiar with his voluntary interview told Fox News Digital that Klain believed Biden was mentally sharp enough to serve as president, and was not too old to run.
But the ex-secretary of state and former Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan both «approached Ron Klain stating they believed Joe Biden was not politically viable» months before he dropped his re-election bid in July 2024, the source said.
COMER DISMISSES BIDEN DOCTOR’S BID FOR PAUSE IN COVER-UP PROBE: ‘THROWING OUT EVERY EXCUSE’
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shared concerns about ex-President Biden’s political viability by 2024, a source said. (Getty Images)
Sullivan told Klain that Biden «was less effective in 2024 compared to 2022,» the source said.
It’s not immediately clear if Biden’s mental acuity was the reasoning for their doubts, nor if they made the case to Klain together or separately.
But it’s a significant indictment coming from top national Democrats of Biden in general, long before concerns about his fitness for office within the party were made public knowledge.
Sullivan had been a top aide to both Biden and Clinton, having served as the latter’s senior policy advisor during her 2016 campaign.
Klain, who served as White House chief of staff for the first half of Biden’s term, conceded that the then-president was less energetic and more forgetful, though he defended his «acuity to govern,» the source said.
«Mr. Klain stated that President Biden often confused names and proper nouns, and it got worse over time,» the source said.
Fox News Digital was told that Klain also said there was no reason to doubt President Donald Trump’s own mental fitness.
Ron Klain, former White House chief of staff, allegedly made the revelation to House investigators (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Klain said nothing to reporters when going in or out of the committee room Thursday.
He’s the sixth former Biden administration aide to appear for Comer’s probe.
And despite the interview being largely staff-led, Comer did make an appearance for the early half of the sit-down, and Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., were both briefly there as well.
Both Biggs and Khanna called Klain «credible» from what they saw inside the room.
«I think he is telling what he knows accurately,» Biggs told Fox News Digital.
FAR-LEFT FIREBRAND SAYS SHE ‘NEVER HAD A CONCERN’ ABOUT BIDEN’S MENTAL STATE AS HOUSE PROBE HEATS UP
On the other side of the aisle, Khanna told reporters, «He answered every single question. He was fully cooperative.»
Three other former Biden White House aides who previously appeared – Annie Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, and ex-White House doctor Kevin O’Connor – all appeared under subpoena and pleaded the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions.
Longtime Biden aide Ashley Williams and ex-staff secretary Neera Tanden, like Klain, came for voluntary transcribed interviews.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer is leading the probe into Biden. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Jeff Zients, who served as Biden’s chief of staff for the final two years, was also asked to sit for a transcribed interview, a committee aide previously told Fox News Digital.
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A source familiar with the Biden team’s thinking previously called Republicans’ probe «dangerous» and «an attempt to smear and embarrass.»
«And their hope is for just one tiny inconsistency between witnesses to appear so that Trump’s DOJ prosecute his political opponents and continue his campaign of revenge,» that source said.
When reached for comment, Adrienne Watson, a representative for Sullivan, told Fox News Digital, «Jake did not have a conversation with Ron about Joe Biden running for president before the debate.»
Fox News Digital also reached out to Klain’s attorney as well as a contact for comment for Clinton but did not hear back by press time.
Seguridad, polémica y críticas por la inmigración en Europa
La policía de Escocia refrozó la seguridad cerca del campo de golf de Donald Trump cerca de Aberdeen, este sábado. Foto: REUTERS Opiniones divididas
Manifestantes anti Trump, este sábado en Balmedie, cerca de Aberdeen, en Escocia. Foto: REUTERS Negociaciones con la Unión Europea por los aranceles
Donald Trump,Escocia
INTERNACIONAL
WATCH: Gabbard’s Obama bombshell has GOP demanding accountability while Dems question timing as ‘distraction’
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After reports that top officials from the Obama administration allegedly orchestrated a coordinated attempt to sabotage President Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory, GOP lawmakers are calling for transparency and accountability, while their Democratic colleagues are questioning the timing and credibility of the new claims.
Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, released a trove of intelligence documents beginning last week that Gabbard has said show former President Barack Obama and some of his closest advisors promoted a «contrived narrative» that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to sabotage Trump.
However, Democrats have insisted that congressional investigations already prove that Russia did help Trump in the 2016 election, while also questioning the timing of the allegations due to pressure on Trump to release more Epstein files.
«It is profoundly dishonest, and it’s dangerous,» Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told Fox News Digital, in reference to the allegations from Gabbard. «What I have urged the administration to do is engage in radical transparency, make it all public and expose just how much the Obama administration knew what they were doing – that they knew they were lying. I think anybody that violated the law needs to be held accountable.»
DNI GABBARD CLAIMS ‘DEEP STATE ACTORS’ DIDN’T WANT TRUMP-RUSSIA INFORMATION TO ‘SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY’
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, calls for «radical transparency» in response to Gabbard’s release of intelligence files alleging Obama-era meddling. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
But Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff told Fox News Digital he thinks the allegations are moot, pointing to former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s 2019 report, which he said «documented Russia’s efforts to help denigrate Hillary Clinton, which gave a boost to the Trump campaign.
«I think what Gabbard and her staff are doing is dishonest,» he added.
However, Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford argued it has «long been established» that the Steele dossier was «clearly a Clinton plant» and that the Clinton campaign was actually «cooperating with the Russians to be able to actually use the Russians to be able to interfere with President Trump’s campaign.»
«What Tulsi Gabbard is pulling out is to say, ‘How deep did this go into the White House that they knew about the Steele Dossier, they knew it was a Clinton document. When did they start pushing this out, and what official resources were they using to try to add validity to this to be able to undercut the election?’» Lankford said.
«We got a long way to go still, but it’s good to be able to get all information out, to be able to pull it out there and to say, ‘Let’s let everybody look at it and let the chips fall where they may.’»
OBAMA-ERA OFFICIALS MUM ON ALLEGATIONS OF ‘MANUFACTURED’ INTELLIGENCE LAUNCHING TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard addresses the press at the White House after declassifying documents she says prove a «contrived» Trump-Russia narrative. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | Fox News Digital)
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said he believed Gabbard was doing the right thing, also expressing hope for extreme transparency amid the alarming allegations.
«Part of what this election was about, it was about transparency and government accountability. And that’s exactly what [Gabbard] is trying to do, and that’s exactly what the Trump administration is trying to do,» Scott said. «Let’s get the people the facts. Let’s follow where the facts are. If somebody’s done anything, we’ll hold them accountable. So, i think the right process is what’s happening.»
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a former CIA analyst, questioned the timing of Gabbard’s release of the information, saying even her 10-year-old nephew understood the move as «a dodge and a distraction» to get eyes off the ongoing Epstein controversy. Amid Gabbard’s document release at the beginning of last week, Trump has been facing calls from within the GOP for the release of more documents and information pertaining to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a former CIA analyst, questioned the timing of Gabbard’s disclosures, calling them a «distraction» amid calls for transparency with the Jeffrey Epstein files. (Associated Press )
«President Trump had four years in his first term, and all the time since then, to go after this issue, and he picks the same day that his name appears in the Epstein files to talk about Barack Obama,» Slotkin told Fox News Digital. «American people are not dumb. Like, we get it. Trump wanted to talk about something different. I have to see these reports, and see how they’re sourced. … I like to read and make my own assessment. But the timing can’t be missed. The president is trying to dodge and distract you.»
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While partisan affiliation may play a part in how lawmakers and the broader public view the Obama allegations released by Gabbard, Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said he thinks the issue «transcends» party affiliation.
«Republican, Democrat, I mean, you know, this is something that transcends all that. This is really important,» Boozman told Fox News Digital. «Hopefully we’ll have open transparency so people will understand what’s going on. And whatever it is, I’m sure Congress will be involved, and certainly the Justice Department is involved. So, I think these are all good things.»
El director de la Agencia de la ONU para los Refugiados Palestinos (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, sostuvo este sábado que la reanudación de los lanzamientos aéreos de ayuda humanitaria en la Franja de Gaza es “costosa, ineficaz y puede inclusive matar a civiles hambrientos”, según sus declaraciones en la red social X.
Lazzarini subrayó que “el lanzamiento aéreo de ayuda no pondrá fin al hambre que se agrava” en el territorio palestino, afectado por una severa catástrofe humanitaria.
El viernes, un funcionario israelí indicó a la agencia AFP que los lanzamientos aéreos de asistencia humanitaria comenzarían nuevamente de forma inminente en Gaza, con Jordania y los Emiratos Árabes Unidos encargándose de la coordinación logística. El ministro de Exteriores emiratí, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, afirmó en X que “la situación humanitaria en Gaza alcanzó un nivel crítico y sin precedentes”, anunciando que “los lanzamientos de ayuda se reanudarán inmediatamente”.
La situación humanitaria en Gaza continúa empeorando, mientras organizaciones internacionales alertan sobre un creciente escenario de desnutrición, especialmente entre la infancia.
“Una hambruna provocada por el hombre solo puede ser resuelta por la voluntad política”, subrayó Lazzarini, y reclamó que la ONU pueda intervenir “a gran escala y sin obstáculos” en la zona.
El gobierno de Israel enfrenta una presión internacional creciente por la dramática situación humanitaria de la población gazatí. Israel impuso un bloqueo total sobre la entrada de ayuda el 2 de marzo, después de la ruptura de las negociaciones para prolongar el alto el fuego en el conflicto, que lleva 21 meses.
El ejército israelí comunicó el viernes que “Israel no limita el número de camiones que entran a la Franja de Gaza”, y argumentó que las “organizaciones humanitarias internacionales y las agencias de las Naciones Unidas no recogen la ayuda cuando ingresa al territorio palestino”.
Sin embargo, numerosas organizaciones en la zona denuncian desde hace meses que enfrentan grandes restricciones y dificultades para distribuir la ayuda dentro de Gaza, a la vez que el acceso por carretera permanece bajo un estricto control israelí. Cogat, organismo del Ministerio de Defensa israelí responsable de los asuntos civiles en los territorios palestinos, aseguró el sábado que había 600 camiones esperando ser descargados por organizaciones internacionales.
Paralelamente, se desarrolla una operación de ayuda a través de la Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, respaldada por Israel y Estados Unidos, aunque esta ha recibido duras críticas internacionales tras incidentes en los que cientos de palestinos murieron por disparos durante la distribución de ayuda.
El sábado se intensificaron los llamamientos internacionales para buscar alternativas que permitan entregar alimentos de manera efectiva a más de dos millones de habitantes de Gaza, con el Reino Unido comprometiéndose a apoyar los lanzamientos aéreos. Downing Street comunicó que el primer ministro británico, Keir Starmer, anunció la colaboración con Jordania y otros socios regionales para reanudar los lanzamientos y evacuar a menores que requieran atención médica urgente.
En una conversación telefónica con el presidente francés, Emmanuel Macron, y el canciller alemán, Friedrich Merz, el primer ministro británico también abordó el impulso de un plan para un alto el fuego inmediato y una paz duradera en la Franja, basada en la solución de dos Estados. Cuando esté preparado dicho plan, los dirigentes aseguraron que lo abrirán a otros aliados internacionales.
Más de 200 diputados británicos instaron recientemente a Starmer a reconocer oficialmente el Estado palestino en la próxima conferencia de Naciones Unidas en Nueva York, auspiciada por Francia y Arabia Saudí, pero el líder laborista sostiene que el reconocimiento solo es útil “como parte de un plan de paz más amplio”.
Desde el inicio de la ofensiva israelí, tras el ataque del grupo terrorista Hamas en octubre de 2023, han muerto 59.733 palestinos, la mayoría civiles, según el Ministerio de Salud de Gaza gobernado por Hamas. El ataque de Hamas causó la muerte de 1.219 personas en Israel, de acuerdo con cifras oficiales.
El grupo de activistas Freedom Flotilla informó que su barco Handala se acercó más que su antecesor Madleen, que fue interceptado y abordado por las fuerzas israelíes el mes anterior, en un intento de entregar ayuda directa a Gaza a pesar del bloqueo naval israelí. El ejército israelí señaló que estaba preparado para hacer valer el “bloqueo marítimo de seguridad legal”.
La comunidad internacional continúa buscando medidas más eficaces para auxiliar a la población palestina ante una crisis alimentaria y humanitaria sin precedentes. Mientras tanto, el debate sobre la mejor forma de aliviar el sufrimiento civil y garantizar el acceso de ayuda esencial sigue sin resolverse.
(Con información de AFP)
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