Anita Dunn, a driving force in the Biden administration who helped hide his cognitive decline, is leaving the White House to work for a Kamala Harris super PAC.
A longtime Democratic strategist for both Biden and Barack Obama, Dunn has been one of Biden's top aides since the start of his disastrous presidency. She is the first high-profile person to quit the White House since Biden announced he would not seek another term in July.
The Biden family blamed Dunn for Biden's disastrous debate in June, which exposed Biden's cognitive decline and led to speculation about a high-level cover-up. Dunn had helped Biden prepare for the debate, which essentially ended his 50-year career in politics.
Dunn has been described as a driving force behind the administration's strategy of keeping Biden away from the press. When she left the administration for the first time in 2021, the New York Times said she was "adamantly opposed to Mr. Biden regularly taking questions from reporters, which she believes does little to advance his agenda."
Throughout her time in the Biden White House, Dunn was also known for her flagrant conflicts of interest and dizzying turns through the "revolving door" of government and corporate power.
She revealed in 2022 that her consulting firm's clients included Pfizer, a company that benefited from the Biden administration's COVID vaccine policy.
She initially dodged having to share her clients at all by working for Biden as a temporary employee and taking a salary just below the threshold to trigger transparency requirements.
Dunn's husband is Biden's personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, who represented Biden in Special Counsel Robert Hur's classified documents investigation.
Biden called Dunn a key asset to his presidency and 2020 campaign.
“Four years ago, when I launched my campaign for the battle for the soul of our nation, I was grateful Anita Dunn was right there with me,” Biden said.
“She’s not only a key senior member of our team that helped us win a historic election in 2020 — she’s also been an invaluable part of our White House."
“I’ve known Anita throughout my career. She’s served our nation through three Administrations and countless campaigns for candidates at every level,” Biden said.
“I deeply value her counsel and friendship and I will continue to rely on her partnership and insights as we finish the job over the next six months,” he added.
Dunn's next job is at a liberal super PAC that is backing Kamala Harris' campaign, Future Forward.
