Who ran the White House? Ask Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson under oath

The growing autopen scandal didn’t just reveal bureaucratic dysfunction — it exposed the collapse of constitutional order during Joe Biden’s presidency. For years, critics raised questions about Biden’s competence. But recent investigative findings paint a far darker picture. The debate is no longer about whether Biden was merely tired, was gaffe-prone, or had merely “lost his fastball.” The real question is much simpler: Who was actually running the White House?

The answer isn’t complicated.

Regret isn’t enough. Full transparency is overdue — and it should no longer be optional.

Our system, a constitutional republic, vests executive authority in one person: the president. Regardless of how Biden became president — an election I still view as a sham — the nation still required a functioning commander in chief. Instead, evidence suggests a collection of unelected individuals and committees assumed presidential authority. That arrangement shattered the illusion that America operates as a rules-based constitutional republic. It exposed a government that no longer plays by the rules it demands others follow.

And the rot didn’t end with staffers and shadow advisers. The media helped enable the fraud — and now looks to profit from revealing it. No one personifies that corruption more clearly than CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson.

These two aren’t reporting a story. They’re selling one.

Tapper and Thompson have launched a media campaign to sell books filled with information they sat on for years. Their book tour isn’t journalism — it’s content monetization, no different from a Netflix docudrama. They brag about interviewing hundreds of anonymous sources, including senior White House officials and members of Congress. But instead of naming names or holding anyone accountable, they offer sanitized narratives, tailored for profit.

This isn’t a game. It’s not entertainment. The past four years weren’t just marked by incompetence — they revealed a criminal breakdown at the heart of the executive branch. Tapper and Thompson claim to know who ran the country. They must now be treated not as pundits, but as witnesses.

Some will instinctively object: “The First Amendment protects journalists from revealing their sources!” That argument doesn’t hold up.

The Supreme Court settled this in Branzburg v. Hayes (1972), ruling that reporters can be compelled to testify before a grand jury. “Reporter’s privilege,” as it’s known, doesn’t shield journalists from legal accountability — especially in criminal cases. And in this case, I don’t believe Tapper or Thompson even qualify as reporters. They wrote and published the book as private authors. Axios White House reporter Marc Caputo publicly stated the outlet has no financial interest in the book. Tapper and Thompson acted as media personalities, not journalists.

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Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

At worst, they’re no different from O.J. Simpson writing “If I Did It” — a confessional dressed up as a hypothetical, designed to sell books, not reveal truth.

Even if they claim journalist status, they should still face subpoenas. No one has a constitutional right to document a criminal conspiracy, repackage it as nonfiction, and profit from it while hiding the facts under a fake privilege. Tapper and Thompson have declared themselves central to the story. It’s time that the government treats them as such.

What crimes might be involved? For starters: false personation of a federal officer, forgery, deprivation of civil rights, conspiracy to exercise presidential power without authority, and quite possibly treason.

And that doesn’t include crimes tied to autopenned pardons — some of which President Trump has declared void. Plenty of potential charges exist.

Tapper and Thompson claim to hold the road map. Both have expressed hollow regrets over how the press handled Biden’s presidency. Regret isn’t enough. Full transparency is overdue — and it should no longer be optional. If federal investigators do their jobs, both men should face questioning under oath.

Whether the Department of Justice or FBI steps up remains an open question. President Trump has called for accountability since his inauguration. These agencies have failed to act. But the window for delay is closing. Public patience is running out — and may already have expired.

Bringing the truth to light will require aggressive legal action. Prosecutors must bring charges. Biden staffers must face subpoenas. Executive privilege must be pierced. But the starting point couldn’t be clearer: Call in Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. Let them testify. They say they know what happened. Let’s put that claim to the test.