May 29, 2025 • 6 mins
Brianna Lyman joins Mendte in the Morning to talk about the release of Jake Tappers book on Joe Bidens mental decline after previously covering it up.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now let's bring in Brianna Lyman, who is a correspondent
at The Federalist. I've seen her on TV a lot
during this over the last couple of weeks. And you've
done a great job, Brianna. Thanks so much for being
here this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Sure absolutely. Now you just heard Jake Tapper a moment
ago and what he said. What do you think about
Jake Tapper now that he's he did a mea culpa,
He said he was wrong. He called Laura Trump and
said he was wrong. Do you think that's enough? He
did go through a gauntlet of being criticized in appearance
after appearance after appearance. What do you think? What do
(00:35):
you think of Jake Tapper?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Now? I think it makes him look worse. You know,
this is a man who spent four years peddling the
same narrative that Joe Biden was, you know, for better
or worse, Okay, and now that he thinks he can
make a quick buck off of it, and that he
thinks this is an opportunity to try and salvage any
shred of credibility that he can then squander about credibility
(00:59):
to call for us to look into Trump's health. That's
what he said last week. Him and Alex Thompson said,
we got to look into Trump's health. If we're doing
it to Biden, you now see the real reason they're
writing this book because they wanted you to Trump what
they did to Biden. So I don't think this makes
them look any better. I think it makes them look worse,
and it makes them look just like the propagandas that
we've always known him to be.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, that's a great point. I'll tell you what, Brianna.
I've become a fan and I was hoping we could
get you on the show. And I'll tell you why.
You said so. You said something during an interview that
I had never thought of, and it was it was brilliant.
You said, we all knew about Joe Biden. We all
knew about it, and they were denying it, and we
knew there was a cover up. The only thing we
(01:40):
didn't know were the names. That's what we needed. And
the one thing Jake Tapper didn't give us with the
name was the names. And I thought that was brilliant.
I hadn't thought of that, and you were absolutely correct.
I want you to hear Alex Thompson. Now I think
they heard you too, because Alex Thompson on the Pierce
Morgan Show named names.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
But in terms of who was running the White House,
it's a small group of people that have been around
some people with an administration. Called them the Pollet Bureau,
Mike Donolan, Biden's longtime political liaison, Steve Verschetti, who was
sort of the legislative liaison, plus like a friend Bruce
Reid at times depending on his situation with the Biden people,
(02:22):
Ron Klain. And then there are some people outside the
Pollet Bureau that are closer to family, which would be
obviously Jill Biden, Hunter Biden, but then Jill's main chief
of staff, Anthony Bernall, and sort of his sort of
like deputy in some ways, Annie Thomasini, who is often
Biden's traveling chief of staff.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So there you go, there are the names. I'll tell
you what they weren't saying that before. I'm giving you
full credit.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, and I appreciate that, but I can't take all
the credit. I do believe that there were some cabinet
secretaries identified in the book that went anonymous, and so
they may be giving us some names, but at the
end of the day, they're not giving all names and
granting anonymity in the book is the sin itself, because
you cannot go around on this massive book who are
(03:08):
claiming to be exposing the cover up, the cover of
mind you that both of them are engaged in, but
claiming to be exposing the cover up, only to continue
covering up the people who were involved. That is in
and of itself a joke. And so I think that's
why a lot of people, at least on the writer
are very skeptical, rightfully so, and they're kind of dismissing
the book as Okay, this is just an opportunity to
(03:29):
make money, because again they may be naming some names,
but they are still granting anonymity to others. And if
you're granting anonymity, it means you are engaging in the
cover up.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, this is an enormous scandal, and I you hear
more and more. The thing that I've have enjoyed is
watching even MSNBC, even some people on MSNBC admitting that
there may be a cover up, not saying there was,
saying there may be a cover up, which is a
big step forward for them. By the way, we do
need an independent investigation. I don't know if it's by
(04:01):
the FBI. I know the House is talking about one.
I know the Senate is talking about one. But we
can't let this story go away. I believe, and I'm
sure you believe. It's that big of a scandal.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
You know, it's funny we say that there should be
an investigation and Republicans are looking into it. Republicans have
been in office since January, they control committee assignments, and
we still don't have investigation going. And I know there's
been a few Republicans who have made a clear or
interested in it, But Republicans are interested in a lot
of things and they never get done. So I really
am hopeful and praying that this is the one thing
(04:37):
that they can accomplish. Ideally, soon before you know, twenty
twenty six really gets started and they say, well, I
got a focus on campaigning and then I'm going to
get to it. Because the American people deserve to know
who was running the shadow government. And for the Democrats,
you know, you guys claim to be the party of democracy,
Well you surrendered your democracy to a bunch of unelected,
(04:57):
anonymous officials who are running the show and use it
a guy to stick your head. You should want these
investigations more than anyone.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Was there criminality here?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I look, I would have to say there has to
be some degree of it. You don't elect a president
and then have unelected anonymous individuals running the government and
treating Joe Biden merely as a member of the board.
That can't be legal.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Well, the only reason I'm asking is because yes we're
talking about the House that we're talking about the Senate.
Should the FBI be looking into this? Should Homeland Security
be looking into this? It certainly affects homeland security when
you have unelected, unconfirmed officials running the government.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
That is a great point, and I would hope that
there would be enough resources to look into this from
all angles to ensure that there is legitimate accountability for
the American people.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, and the media also, I'll tell you what, Briana,
we should have you back, because I would love to
talk to you about the media as well. I don't
know how to change that because they have a constitution
right now to say what they want to say. But
I can't imagine that they're doing well among their own
viewers because this was this was absolutely abhorrant and it should,
(06:11):
it should cross party lines. Brianna Lyman, you were great.
Thank you so much. I hope to talk to you
again soon.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Thanks so much for having me
Now let's bring in Brianna Lyman, who is a correspondent
at The Federalist. I've seen her on TV a lot
during this over the last couple of weeks. And you've
done a great job, Brianna. Thanks so much for being
here this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Sure absolutely. Now you just heard Jake Tapper a moment
ago and what he said. What do you think about
Jake Tapper now that he's he did a mea culpa,
He said he was wrong. He called Laura Trump and
said he was wrong. Do you think that's enough? He
did go through a gauntlet of being criticized in appearance
after appearance after appearance. What do you think? What do
(00:35):
you think of Jake Tapper?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Now? I think it makes him look worse. You know,
this is a man who spent four years peddling the
same narrative that Joe Biden was, you know, for better
or worse, Okay, and now that he thinks he can
make a quick buck off of it, and that he
thinks this is an opportunity to try and salvage any
shred of credibility that he can then squander about credibility
(00:59):
to call for us to look into Trump's health. That's
what he said last week. Him and Alex Thompson said,
we got to look into Trump's health. If we're doing
it to Biden, you now see the real reason they're
writing this book because they wanted you to Trump what
they did to Biden. So I don't think this makes
them look any better. I think it makes them look worse,
and it makes them look just like the propagandas that
we've always known him to be.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, that's a great point. I'll tell you what, Brianna.
I've become a fan and I was hoping we could
get you on the show. And I'll tell you why.
You said so. You said something during an interview that
I had never thought of, and it was it was brilliant.
You said, we all knew about Joe Biden. We all
knew about it, and they were denying it, and we
knew there was a cover up. The only thing we
(01:40):
didn't know were the names. That's what we needed. And
the one thing Jake Tapper didn't give us with the
name was the names. And I thought that was brilliant.
I hadn't thought of that, and you were absolutely correct.
I want you to hear Alex Thompson. Now I think
they heard you too, because Alex Thompson on the Pierce
Morgan Show named names.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
But in terms of who was running the White House,
it's a small group of people that have been around
some people with an administration. Called them the Pollet Bureau,
Mike Donolan, Biden's longtime political liaison, Steve Verschetti, who was
sort of the legislative liaison, plus like a friend Bruce
Reid at times depending on his situation with the Biden people,
(02:22):
Ron Klain. And then there are some people outside the
Pollet Bureau that are closer to family, which would be
obviously Jill Biden, Hunter Biden, but then Jill's main chief
of staff, Anthony Bernall, and sort of his sort of
like deputy in some ways, Annie Thomasini, who is often
Biden's traveling chief of staff.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So there you go, there are the names. I'll tell
you what they weren't saying that before. I'm giving you
full credit.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, and I appreciate that, but I can't take all
the credit. I do believe that there were some cabinet
secretaries identified in the book that went anonymous, and so
they may be giving us some names, but at the
end of the day, they're not giving all names and
granting anonymity in the book is the sin itself, because
you cannot go around on this massive book who are
(03:08):
claiming to be exposing the cover up, the cover of
mind you that both of them are engaged in, but
claiming to be exposing the cover up, only to continue
covering up the people who were involved. That is in
and of itself a joke. And so I think that's
why a lot of people, at least on the writer
are very skeptical, rightfully so, and they're kind of dismissing
the book as Okay, this is just an opportunity to
(03:29):
make money, because again they may be naming some names,
but they are still granting anonymity to others. And if
you're granting anonymity, it means you are engaging in the
cover up.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, this is an enormous scandal, and I you hear
more and more. The thing that I've have enjoyed is
watching even MSNBC, even some people on MSNBC admitting that
there may be a cover up, not saying there was,
saying there may be a cover up, which is a
big step forward for them. By the way, we do
need an independent investigation. I don't know if it's by
(04:01):
the FBI. I know the House is talking about one.
I know the Senate is talking about one. But we
can't let this story go away. I believe, and I'm
sure you believe. It's that big of a scandal.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
You know, it's funny we say that there should be
an investigation and Republicans are looking into it. Republicans have
been in office since January, they control committee assignments, and
we still don't have investigation going. And I know there's
been a few Republicans who have made a clear or
interested in it, But Republicans are interested in a lot
of things and they never get done. So I really
am hopeful and praying that this is the one thing
(04:37):
that they can accomplish. Ideally, soon before you know, twenty
twenty six really gets started and they say, well, I
got a focus on campaigning and then I'm going to
get to it. Because the American people deserve to know
who was running the shadow government. And for the Democrats,
you know, you guys claim to be the party of democracy,
Well you surrendered your democracy to a bunch of unelected,
(04:57):
anonymous officials who are running the show and use it
a guy to stick your head. You should want these
investigations more than anyone.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Was there criminality here?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I look, I would have to say there has to
be some degree of it. You don't elect a president
and then have unelected anonymous individuals running the government and
treating Joe Biden merely as a member of the board.
That can't be legal.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Well, the only reason I'm asking is because yes we're
talking about the House that we're talking about the Senate.
Should the FBI be looking into this? Should Homeland Security
be looking into this? It certainly affects homeland security when
you have unelected, unconfirmed officials running the government.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
That is a great point, and I would hope that
there would be enough resources to look into this from
all angles to ensure that there is legitimate accountability for
the American people.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, and the media also, I'll tell you what, Briana,
we should have you back, because I would love to
talk to you about the media as well. I don't
know how to change that because they have a constitution
right now to say what they want to say. But
I can't imagine that they're doing well among their own
viewers because this was this was absolutely abhorrant and it should,
(06:11):
it should cross party lines. Brianna Lyman, you were great.
Thank you so much. I hope to talk to you
again soon.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Thanks so much for having me
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