'What changed?' Jen Psaki no longer a fan of discussing leaked transcripts of a president's phone calls

Doug P. | 3:42 PM on September 01, 2021

Earlier today we told that Reuters obtained a leaked transcript and audio of a call between President Biden and then Afghan President Ghani during which Biden asked Ghani to proclaim publicly that the fight against the Taliban was going well “whether it is true or not”:

In much of the call, Biden focused on what he called the Afghan government’s “perception” problem. “I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban,” Biden said. “And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.”

It sure sounds like Biden was asking Ghani to lie his a** off.

At today’s White House briefing, Biden press secretary Jen Psaki wasn’t in a mood to discuss the leak. Surprise surprise!

Psaki says she’s “not going to get into… leaked call transcripts.”

Is that the new standard now? Because I seem to remember a different standard just last year…

— Abigail Marone (@abigailmarone) September 1, 2021

REPORTER: "Was the president in any way pushing a false narrative in that call?"

PSAKI: "I am not going to go into the details of a private conversation…" pic.twitter.com/4lJPX6QXT6

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 1, 2021

Their eagerness to put all the cards on the table when it comes to leaked transcripts of a president’s phone calls sure has taken a turn:

Jen Psaki today says she doesn’t want to talk about “leaked transcripts.”

Weird because… https://t.co/jW31ia7F5P

— Abigail Marone (@abigailmarone) September 1, 2021