When the Watergate scandal was roiling a half-century ago, we were told the cover-up was worse than the crime. There was no crime – that we currently know of – in keeping President Joe Biden’s cognitive infirmity hidden from the public. But the cover-up shows that the Democratic Party is made up of liars who have the chutzpah, though maybe not quite the skill, of Soviet propagandists.

Up until the June 27 debate with Donald Trump, the Democrats and their media division kept assuring us that Biden was fine. While his inner circle insisted that he was fit right up to the point that he dropped out of the race Sunday, others in his party and much of the press began to turn on him before the debate was over. At the same time, they tried to convince the country that they didn’t know that Biden’s condition had deteriorated so severely.

But they knew.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was maybe the worst offender. Last fall, she said she “would put the president’s stamina, the president’s wisdom, ability to get this done on behalf of the American people, against anyone” – “anyone, on any day of the week.”

A fews months earlier, she said it was “hard for us to keep up with this president.” Then a couple of weeks ago, she admitted to “giving false information about” a neurologist seeing Biden at the White House.

In February, former House speaker and always-party-over-country Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi swore that Biden was “very sharp” and “always on the ball.” At roughly the same time, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the Senate majority leader, said Biden’s “mental acuity is great, it’s fine, it’s as good as it’s been over the years.” And all those instances of Biden’s feebleness of mind everyone else had been seeing for years? Just “right-wing propaganda,” he said.

And then were was Barack Obama himself, excusing Biden’s blundering debate performance as merely a bad night, which just happens from time to time. In his effort to hide the truth, Biden co-campaign chair Mitch Landrieu said he thought Biden “really kind of rose to the occasion” as the debate progressed.

The media were also in on it. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough – who often appears to be insane himself so maybe we can somewhat excuse his implausible claim – assured viewers in March that “this version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second.”

While not directly spewing obvious lies, the press corps did protect Biden. Hadas Gold, writing earlier this month for CNN, said when Biden’s age was brought up, “the White House was quick to point out to reporters” that talk of his senescence had been a “right-wing talking point for years.” This warning “may have inadvertently turned off any serious investigation,” she said. Apparently the media were afraid of the “blowback from pursuing such reports, especially from the White House and Democrats.”

In other words, they didn’t want to pursue stories that might help Republicans.

Give credit to the Wall Street Journal for breaking with the pack and publishing a story in early June which showed that behind closed doors, there were signs of the president slipping. We know it was close to the target because White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates called the reporting a restatement of the “same false claims” Republicans have “spouted on Fox News for years.” Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island called it a “political hit job.”

From Jean-Pierre to the Democratic congressional leaders, all of the Biden insiders, near-insiders and major to minor party functionaries have been well aware of his troubling mental state – and from the beginning, when he campaigned from his basement for the 2020 election – and lied about it. There is even suspicion from investigative journalist Joel Mowbray that Kim Cheatle was specifically brought in to run the Secret Service “to help conceal from the public Biden’s true condition.”

All of it was done without remorse. A pile of lies stacked on another pile of lies. And the targets were not just independents and swing voters who will impact the election but their own voters, who had to be kept in line.

None of this was done for the benefit of the country but to keep alive the Democrats’ hopes of holding on to the White House. They feared that Vice President Kamala Harris is so unelectable that their best chance to keep their claws in power was to lie about Biden’s condition. The Trump campaign and Republican officials need to hammer this point throughout the race, no matter who the replacement turns out to be. The Democrats have shown they can’t be trusted and voters need to be reminded of this every day.

— Written by the I&I Editorial Board