Embattled CNN anchor Jake Tapper has enlisted a PR crisis guru amid scathing criticism of his new book, which claims to expose former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline—despite spending years attacking conservatives for making the same argument. 

Tapper and co-author Alex Thompson hired crisis communications expert Risa Heller and her firm Heller Co., to help in their May 20 launch of Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.

Heller is no stranger to scandal. She represented disgraced figures like former CNN boss Jeff Zucker, who resigned after a secret affair with an employee, and former Rep. Anthony Weiner, infamous for his sexting scandals. 

Tapper defended the hire as an apparent bid to make the book’s “rollout as smart as possible.” He also claimed Heller would merely provide “advice.” However, the timing tells a different story.