Growing up, my mother would often tell me that one can not cover the sun with their hand- a Hispanic saying meant to express the futility of attempting to conceal the obvious. It seems, with regard to the still-developing Biden autopen scandal, that the media are going to try to do so nonetheless.
Three former Biden White House officials have invoked their Fifth Amendment rights in front of the House Oversight Committee rather than answer questions about their knowledge of the extent of President Joe Biden’s diminished capacities, and about the dubious use of the autopen for the signing of thousands of pardons. The legacy newscasts have so far devoted very little time to the scandal, as highlighted in a study by our own Geoff Dickens:
https://www.mrctv.org/node/595113
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
7/14/25
6:43 PM
GARRETT HAAKE: Tonight, President Trump also responding to former President Biden who — in a new interview with The New York Times — called Trump and other Republicans liars for saying his aides had used an autopen without his authorization for thousands of pardons and clemencies issued in his administration’s final weeks. Biden telling the Times, quote, “I made every decision,” while acknowledging his staff used an autopen to apply his signature because, he said, “we’re talking about a whole lot of people.” Trump, who has also made use of an autopen, responding.
DONALD TRUMP: I guarantee he knew nothing about what he was signing. I guarantee it.
Even then, the NBC item only touched President Trump’s response to Biden’s condemnation of the investigation and those who say he is cognitively compromised in a New York Times interview. This is a deliberate Trumpwashing of the story that allows the media to skip reporting on the three that have ducked the committee: White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Dr. First Lady Jill Biden’s Chief of Staff Anthony Bernal, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini.
The Sunday shows appear to have taken the same approach as the nightly newscasts insomuch as none touched the autopen. Instead, they killed the clock with the ongoing Epstein Files kerfuffle. CBS’s Margaret Brennan tried to redirect off of Tulsi Gabbard’s Russia Hoax document drop. Others interviewed L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, and NBC’s Meet the Press was pre-empted for golf coverage.
Things may change if a few more Biden functionaries plead the 5th, but it seems unlikely. The media are trying their hardest, but failing, to cover the sun with their hands.
