Obviously, the answer, writ large, is "Yes." Every White House skirts the law a bit to put a thumb on the scale. Does anybody doubt that the Democrats and the federal bureaucracy have been manipulating statistics to make the economy look better, the border more secure, and that infrastructure projects are being built solely due to the generosity of the president and his party? 

Sometimes, those efforts are legal. Other times, they are shady. But few aren't in a gray area.

Then, there are times when the law is clear, and the issue not gray at all. One of those is the Presidential Records Act, which is important because the records being kept are not just of historical interest but can pop up in legal cases, Congressional inquiries, and in very few cases, change the course of history. 

There is a reason why the stenographers at the White House are nonpartisan, permanent federal employees. Their job is not to serve the political interests of the White House but the country's interest in preserving the most important words of the people who run the world. 

After the head of the White House Stenography Office found out that the Press Office had altered the transcript to change what Biden said, he sent an email complaining of “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices.” pic.twitter.com/jpOA8rP6dP

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) November 1, 2024

Well, according to evidence printed by the Associated Press, the White House Press Office, probably illegally, edited the official transcript of Biden's Zoom call in which he called Trump supporters garbage. 

As you may recall, official White House transcripts played a role in the first Trump impeachment, and they could do so because the transcripts are supposed to be independent and reliable recordings of what was said at any time. In this case, the stenographers made clear that Biden called Trump supporters "garbage," and the White House Press Office decided that was too damaging to leave hanging out there. 

So, they rewrote his comments. Likely violating federal law for political reasons. 

The stenographers' office sure thinks so. 

Since 2022, the NY Times has championed the prosecution of Trump for allegedly violating the Presidential Records Act. Now that there is strong evidence that Biden was directly involved in manipulating a transcript in violation of the PRA, will the NY Times demand prosecution? pic.twitter.com/Nl9nYVpZ8t

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) November 1, 2024

It wasn't just the Press Office involved. The matter went all the way to the President of the United States, who gave permission for the Press Office to rewrite history. 

BREAKING: The White House altered the transcript of President Joe Biden's "garbage" remarks despite stenographer concerns, AP sources say. https://t.co/dhVhNhWJ37

— The Associated Press (@AP) November 1, 2024

The reason they did this is they needed to give the press an excuse to "debunk" the "garbage" comment--something many in the media dutifully did, giving grammar lessons on the use of apostrophes. The effort didn't work, but they gave it the ol' college try. Unfortunately for them, college today isn't what it once was. Even journalists can graduate. 

In light of this, we asked the White House if the stenographers signed off on the transcript that was released by the press office, as is protocol. Despite multiple follow ups, we got no reply. https://t.co/C5JuFFqfIx

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) October 31, 2024

I won't pretend that this violation of protocol and perhaps the law is the equivalent of the 17-minute gap in the Nixon tapes. This was an attempt to cover up a politically inconvenient Kinsley Gaffe, not hiding pallets of cash being sent to Iran or trying to hide the accidental murder of innocent civilian aid workers and children in Afghanistan. 

What it was, though, is pretty embarrassing and a likely violation of the law to help the Democrats retain power over trillions of dollars in government spending, control over the regulatory agencies that determine who wins and who loses in our economy, and control over the most powerful military in human history. 

Incredible that Dems are still obsessed with a dumb comedian and yet seem to care not at all about Biden’s “garbage” comments and Mark Cuban’s insults to women. I explained it for them on @cnn last night. pic.twitter.com/HsLYPdDNxP

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) November 1, 2024

On a scale of 1-10 in government corruption, this is probably a 4-5, not a 9-10. Biden and his administration have done much worse, like conspire to put Donald Trump in jail, keep him off the ballot, and, of course, deny him the necessary security staff to keep him from being shot. 

Compared to these ten-level scandals, changing a transcript is small beer. 

But it's only small beer because they run roughshod over our laws and norns all day every day.