When Silence Screams: Did Biden and Harris Pull Their Punches Because of Kremlin Threats?

The Kremlin’s oldest weapon isn’t bombs or bullets…it’s whispers about your family

President Joe Biden on November 7th, 2024, asking the nation to dial down the temperature, and promising Trump a smooth and welcoming transition.

When Silence Screams: Did Biden and Harris Pull Their Punches Because of Kremlin Threats?

The Kremlin’s oldest weapon isn’t bombs or bullets…it’s whispers about your family

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter # 503: Sunday, August 24th, 2025.

What if I told you something most people can’t even bring themselves to whisper:

That Biden and Harris didn’t go soft on Trump during the transition because of “unity”...or “civility”…or a desire to “heal the nation.”

What if the real reason they kept their mouths shut was because someone credible told them their families were in the crosshairs.

Not a campaign threat…not Twitter noise…not partisan spin.

But a whisper out of the Kremlin’s playbook…backed by intelligence briefings that made their hair stand on end.

Part I: The Strange Silence

Think back to late 2020 and early 2021.

Trump was raging…tweeting about “stolen elections”…summoning the mob to Washington…his allies in Congress and on Fox News feeding the flames.

The Heritage Foundation had already published Project 2025…their 180-day blueprint to dismantle democracy the moment Trump could get his hands on the Oval Office again. That wasn’t a secret. It was out in the open.

And Biden?

He barely said a word about Trump during the transition. Harris too.

They bent over backward to strike a “smooth transition” tone…to talk about welcoming the outgoing administration…to avoid hammering Trump’s authoritarian bent.

It was odd. Uncanny even. Because the danger wasn’t subtle. It was everywhere.

So ask yourself this…why wouldn’t they scream it from the rooftops?

Part II: What They Knew

Here’s the thing most Americans don’t realize.

When you’re president-elect…the CIA doesn’t hand you a Highlights magazine. They hand you a binder that makes your blood run cold.

They tell you about Russian money flows…foreign cyber operations…domestic extremist chatter…names…dates…plots.

You don’t enter the White House blind. You’re briefed.

So Biden and Harris knew.

They knew about Trump’s links to Moscow. They knew about the Proud Boys…the Oath Keepers…the chatter about violence. They knew about Project 2025’s 180-day plan to gut the DOJ, DHS, the military chain of command.

Don’t ever think they didn’t know.

Part III: Threats…Leverage…and How the Kremlin Plays the Game

Here’s where we need to talk about how Russia actually operates.

Because this isn’t conjecture. It’s the playbook they’ve used across the globe.

In Ukraine…Russian operatives threatened the children of government ministers. “We know their school routes,” they whispered. Some officials folded.

In Germany…pro-Kremlin networks have slipped threats through social media and dark money channels…always hinting that families would pay the price for defiance.

And in Britain? Ask the families of poisoned dissidents what it feels like to have Moscow’s shadow cross your doorstep.

This is the tactic: don’t go after the leader directly. Go after their loved ones.

Because no human being…no matter how tough…is immune to the fear of their family being hurt.

It’s psychological warfare at its most devastating.

So imagine Biden getting an intelligence briefing that included an intercepted message casually mentioning his granddaughter’s name. Imagine Harris being told of chatter about her husband’s movements.

That’s how psy-ops works. It doesn’t have to be confirmed. It just has to be credible enough to chill your blood.

Part IV: The Biden & Harris Calculus

So let’s put the pieces together.

They were told Trump was dangerous. They were told Russia was watching. They were told domestic extremists were planning.

And somewhere in the mix…they may have been told this: your families are not out of reach.

Now they had a choice.

Do they go public? Do they rail against Trump and risk escalation? Do they confirm to the world that yes…the Kremlin is threatening American leaders’ families?

Or do they keep their heads down…project calm…say little about Trump himself…and buy time?

They chose silence.

Not out of weakness…but out of calculation. (and I can say that, now. I was unimaginably pissed off for about six-months. I still am…but it’s a more calm-pissed.)

Because sometimes silence is survival.

Part V: The Silence as Strategy

Here’s the part that makes your hair stand on end.

When you watch the footage of Biden’s transition remarks…his deliberate calm…his “we will work together” messaging…

…you might have been looking at a man who had already been told his family was on the list.

And Harris, too. Her restraint wasn’t stiffness. It may have been armor.

This isn’t new in history.

FDR knew about Nazi sabotage plots…but he kept calm in public to avoid mass panic.
JFK during the Cuban Missile Crisis refused to bluster…even when generals wanted him to pound the table.
Sometimes restraint is the only weapon you have.

That’s why their silence wasn’t just odd. It may have been the tell.

Part VI: Why It Matters Now

Fast forward to 2025.

Project 2025 isn’t just a blueprint. It’s being rolled out in real time. FAST.
Trump’s allies are openly talking about purges…detentions…and using federal agencies as weapons…and at this point…it’s mostly while they’re doing those things.
And the Kremlin is still in the shadows…still running disinformation ops…still playing the long game.

So ask yourself: if threats to family could muzzle Biden and Harris once…what’s stopping those same forces from muzzling others now?

This isn’t history. This is live ammunition.

Part VII: History Repeats Itself

If you think this theory is too far-fetched…too conspiratorial…let me remind you…history is littered with leaders who were forced into silence when their families were targeted.

Winston Churchill was famous for his booming defiance during World War II…but in private…he admitted to colleagues that Nazi threats against his daughters shook him to the core. He told one aide, “They know a father’s heart is the tenderest armor.”

Vaclav Havel in Czechoslovakia…the playwright who became president …was jailed… beaten…harassed by the Soviets. What did they threaten him with most often? His wife. His family. He later said, “The attack against one’s family is not an attack against the man…it is an attack against his very existence.”

And Martin Luther King Jr.? Go back and listen to the recordings of the anonymous phone calls…“Your children will not be safe.” The FBI…the Klan…pro-Soviet agitators all knew the pressure point wasn’t just MLK’s courage. It was the safety of Coretta and their kids.

Do you see the pattern?

When the enemy can’t break the leader…they threaten the family. And the silence that follows isn’t always weakness. Sometimes it’s survival.

Part VIII: The Behavioral Psychology of Threats

Here’s the clinical side of it.

In psychology…we call it threat salience…the prioritization of immediate…personal threats over abstract…collective ones.

You could warn a leader about a coup attempt…a hostile army…or a blueprint like Project 2025.

And yes…they’ll take it seriously. But mention their child by name…mention their spouse’s daily routine…and suddenly all those abstract threats collapse into one red-hot point of fear.

Why? Because of limbic hijack.

When the amygdala floods with fear…rational thought is overridden. Even the most powerful leaders are still parents…spouses…human beings.

And the most effective psy-ops operatives know this. That’s why the Kremlin doesn’t have to prove the threat. They only have to make it credible enough that your mind fills in the blanks.

That’s the goosebump part. Because it means Biden and Harris didn’t need proof of a hit squad. They just needed enough evidence that the possibility was real. And that would be enough to muzzle them.

Part IX: How It Syncs With Heritage’s 2025 Plan

Now let’s connect it back to home.

Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 wasn’t a think tank doodle. It was a war map. A 180-day plan to dismantle the U.S. government’s ability to resist authoritarian capture.

Day 1: purge the civil service.
Day 30: replace DOJ and DHS heads with loyalists.
Day 90: seize control of federal law enforcement.
Day 180: restructure the entire chain of command.

And you think Biden and Harris didn’t know this? Of course they did. It’s not even up for debate.

So the silence becomes even stranger. The danger wasn’t just looming. It was printed in a glossy binder.

The only explanation that fits? They were weighing not just institutional risks…but personal ones.

Because if you knew the Kremlin was whispering threats at the same time the Heritage 2025 machine was rolling forward…would you take the bait and fight loud…or would you bide your time…speak softly…and keep your family shielded?

Part X: Imagine the Room

Picture this…

A December evening. Biden is in Wilmington…receiving a classified briefing. Harris is on the other end of a secure line.

The briefer says: “We have credible chatter of Russian-linked operatives discussing retaliation if the president-elect or vice president-elect escalate rhetoric against Trump or Moscow.”

Then they show an intercept…half redacted…but one phrase jumps off the page: “the granddaughter.”

That’s all it takes.

Or imagine Harris…hearing that her husband Doug’s schedule was being tracked by foreign-linked social media networks.

They don’t have to say, “We’re coming for your family.” They only have to suggest the possibility.

And once the suggestion is credible…the silence makes sense.

Part XI: The Modern Intimidation Ecosystem

Don’t think for a second this is just Russia. MAGA is running its own intimidation operation in parallel.

School board members threatened at home. Election officials stalked. Judges’ families doxxed. Members of Congress warned not to cross Trump.

This is the culture Trump normalized: political violence as an everyday background hum.

Layer Kremlin-style whispers on top of that…and you have a perfect storm of intimidation.

The irony? Biden and Harris’ silence may not have been aimed at “unity” at all. It may have been aimed at survival. Not just for the country…but for their families.

Part XII: Why This Matters to Us

If they were threatened into silence once…what makes you think it won’t happen again?

What makes you think governors…senators…even journalists aren’t already feeling the shadow of these same threats? One of my sources says, “They have.”

It’s a pipeline. The Kremlin pushes intimidation>MAGA amplifies it>Heritage provides the blueprint. And leaders feel the squeeze in their most vulnerable spot: their families.

Which is why we can’t afford to mistake silence for safety.

Because silence might just be the loudest proof of all…that the threats are working.

Safety?

Don’t ever mistake silence for safety.

Sometimes silence is the scream you can’t hear.
Sometimes silence is the proof that the threats landed.
Sometimes silence is the shadow of the Kremlin creeping across a free people’s leaders.

If Biden and Harris were threatened into silence…then our job is clear.

We raise our voices twice as loud.
We fight twice as hard.
We refuse to be muzzled.

Because democracy doesn’t survive intimidation.
It survives defiance.

And that…is what we’re what we’re here for.

When the “Yeah Buts” Start Flying…Cut Them Off at the Knees

1. What proof do you have that threats were actually made?

You won’t find a smoking gun transcript in the New York Times…you’ll find the pattern…over and over again…across history. The Kremlin never sends an invoice for intimidation. They whisper just loud enough to be credible…and that’s all it takes.

2. What if Biden and Harris were simply trying to look presidential and above the fray?

That’s the surface-level explanation…and it works…if you ignore the stakes. But when democracy itself was on the line…when Jan 6th chatter was boiling…do you really believe “polite restraint” was enough? Or was it enforced silence?

3. What if this was just their style…calm and boring?

Calm is one thing…eerily muted is another. They didn’t just stay calm…they tiptoed. Leaders briefed on existential threats don’t tiptoe…unless the threat goes straight to their family.

4. What if you’re reading too much into silence?

Silence is never neutral in politics. It’s either strategy…or submission. And in this case…the timing…context…and history of Kremlin intimidation screams strategy under duress.

5. What if it was just about healing the country after a bitter election?

Healing requires truth-telling. You can’t heal by pretending the infection isn’t there. The silence wasn’t medicine…it was a muzzle.

6. What if intelligence briefings didn’t mention Kremlin threats at all?

Then history suddenly broke its own rules. Because every U.S. president-elect for decades has been warned about Russia’s playbook of intimidation. To assume Biden and Harris weren’t briefed is to assume fantasy.

7. What if they just didn’t want to give Trump more oxygen?

If that was the case…they could’ve frozen him out with mockery or dismissal. Instead…they welcomed him. They stroked the transition. That’s not oxygen control…that’s walking on eggshells.

8. What if Trump wasn’t on their minds at all during transition?

Then why did he dominate intelligence chatter? Why did the Heritage 2025 plan loom over everything? To say Trump wasn’t central is to rewrite history. He was the storm…and they chose to whisper through it.

9. What if their restraint actually showed strength?

Sometimes restraint is strength. But sometimes restraint is a scream you can’t hear. Context is everything. And in this context…it looks less like strategy…and more like survival.

10. What if you’re assuming Kremlin involvement without evidence?

No assumption. A track record. Poisonings in London. Threats in Berlin. Family intimidation in Kyiv. The Kremlin doesn’t improvise…it recycles proven tactics.

11. What if the Heritage 2025 plan wasn’t even on their radar?

False. It was published. Circulated. Reported. If journalists knew…intelligence agencies knew. And if intelligence agencies knew…Biden and Harris knew. Period.

12. What if Biden’s age and Harris’ caution explain it better than threats?

Age explains gaffes. Caution explains hedging. But neither explains a total blackout on Trump’s threat profile. That’s not age. That’s not caution. That’s pressure.

13. What if silence was just smart politics?

Then explain why it came across as eerie even to allies. Smart politics doesn’t raise eyebrows inside your own coalition. Threat-induced silence does.

14. What if you’re just spinning a conspiracy theory?

Conspiracies require secret meetings and grand plots. This isn’t that. This is observable history. Leaders go silent when their families are credibly threatened. Call it a conspiracy if you like…history calls it pattern recognition.

15. What if this all still feels too unbelievable?

Then ask yourself what’s more unbelievable…that Biden and Harris…fully briefed on Trump and Project 2025…suddenly lost their voice out of politeness…or that the Kremlin recycled the same intimidation playbook it has used for 70 years. You’ll arrive at the most prudent answer…I’m certain of it.

Okay…What the Hell?! Let’s do 10 BONUS Questions/Answers

10 Fresh Questions That Go Further: From a Different Angle

1. What if the FBI or Secret Service would’ve protected Biden and Harris’ families anyway?

Protection isn’t omniscience. Ask the families of federal judges who’ve been targeted in the U.S….tragic proof that even with protection…threats can land.

In 2020 alone…DHS tracked hundreds of credible domestic terror plots…many targeting politicians’ families. Biden and Harris would have known protection is strong… but not airtight. That knowledge alone is enough to chill speech.

2. What if the intelligence community exaggerated threats to over-prepare them

Intelligence briefings are cautious…but they rarely invent out of thin air. In fact…post-9/11 reforms pushed agencies to under-promise…over-warn.

When officials are told “credible chatter exists about family members,” it doesn’t matter if the threat is imminent …the perception alone forces behavioral change.

Psychological studies show that “low-probability/high-consequence threats” trigger hyper-caution in decision makers.

3. What if Biden and Harris were more focused on securing allies abroad than attacking Trump at home?

In late 2020…Biden immediately began repairing NATO relationships and signaling steadiness to Europe. Why? Because U.S. allies feared Trump’s destabilization.

But here’s the twist…Kremlin-linked threats fit perfectly into that calculus.

If allies were told, “Even America’s leaders have to tread lightly because of Moscow,” the case for silence grows stronger. International priorities didn’t replace domestic threats…they compounded them.

4. What if silence was meant to protect intelligence sources and methods?

This is a legitimate possibility. If Biden or Harris had openly said, “The Kremlin is threatening our families,” they’d risk exposing how that information was collected… intercepts…human sources…signal monitoring.

Historically…presidents have withheld explosive truths (see Kennedy in the Cuban Missile Crisis…or Obama on bin Laden intel) precisely to protect sources. This angle doesn’t weaken the theory…it strengthens it.

5. What if the media would have spun open talk of threats as weakness?

Exactly. Imagine the Fox News cycle: “Biden Scared of Putin!” “Harris Playing the Victim!” The right weaponizes vulnerability.

Intelligence agencies know this. So if Biden/Harris acknowledged credible threats… they risked emboldening Trump’s base while terrifying the public. Silence wasn’t just survival…it was containment of political optics.

6. What if Biden and Harris believed exposing the threats would cause public panic

Leaders often withhold frightening information to prevent chaos. FDR did it during WWII sabotage threats. After 9/11, classified briefings included far more alarming content than what was released.

Biden’s generational style is rooted in calm the waters. So even if threats existed…he would’ve defaulted to downplaying. Harris…aligning with him…would follow suit.

7. What if threats came from non-state actors…cartels…extremist militias…not the Kremlin?

Possible…and still damning. Remember…intelligence briefings don’t always pin threats cleanly to one actor. In 2020…chatter swirled from domestic extremists…far-right militias…and foreign amplifiers.

If the Kremlin merely piggybacked on MAGA threats (or vice versa)…it still functions the same way: credible…targeted intimidation. Leaders rarely know with 100% certainty who is holding the knife. They just know the knife exists.

8. What if their silence was coordinated advice from Obama…Pelosi…or top Democratic leadership?

That tracks. Party elders may have told Biden and Harris: “Don’t rattle the bear. Get into office. Then fight.” This doesn’t negate the threat hypothesis…it supports it.

Why would mentors urge silence if not for danger? Obama himself was briefed on Russian threats in 2016 and admitted he muted his response for fear of escalating conflict. The precedent was already there.

9. What if the Kremlin had kompromat…not physical threats…that kept them quiet?

Russia’s intelligence services are notorious for kompromat (compromising material). They may not have threatened physical harm…but rather whispered about financial scandals…personal dirt…or even Hunter Biden.

Whether real or fabricated…kompromat works the same way…it silences. (Think Epstein coverup) In this light…family threats may not have been physical danger…but reputational assassination.

10. What if silence was a calculated trade-off: let Trump implode on his own?

That’s partly true…but incomplete. Yes…Democrats may have thought Trump’s chaos would self-destruct. But combine that with intelligence briefings about family threats… and suddenly the trade-off looks more like compulsion than choice.

History shows leaders under pressure rationalize silence as “strategy” when the real driver is fear. The dual explanation…“we’ll let him implode” plus “we’ll protect our families” …fits the evidence best.

So…what does this mean for our country moving forward?

If Biden and Harris were threatened into silence…if their families were the hidden pressure points that kept them from blasting Trump during the transition…then here’s the uncomfortable truth:

It means intimidation is not just alive in America…it’s operational.

It means our enemies don’t need to assassinate a president or topple a building to shape our politics. They just need to make a credible whisper about someone’s children…someone’s spouse…someone’s grandchild.

That’s the game.

And if it worked once…it can work again.

This is where the danger lies. Because once you normalize family threats as part of the political ecosystem…every future leader carries that weight.

Governors. Senators. Judges. Even journalists. Once they believe their loved ones are fair game…silence becomes the path of least resistance.

That silence is the rot. It’s how authoritarianism grows. Not in one big leap…but in the small moments when voices go quiet out of fear.

And don’t think for a second it’s hypothetical. You’ve already seen it.

School board members quitting because mobs showed up at their homes. Election workers harassed until they resigned. Judges told their families’ addresses were circulating online. This isn’t a preview. It’s here.

So…what does this mean for our country?

First…it means we need to understand silence differently.

Stop mistaking it for “strategy.” Stop romanticizing it as “dignity.” Sometimes it is. But other times…it’s the tell. It’s the moment when threats hit home.

Second…it means citizens…people like you and me…have to fill the gaps.

When leaders are muzzled…even temporarily…the public voice has to double in volume. If the Kremlin uses silence as a weapon…then our response has to be defiance so loud it drowns the whisper.

Third…it means we need to harden the system against intimidation.

Protect families of public servants the way we protect embassies. Invest in counter-intelligence not just abroad…but at home. Make it clear that threatening a family member is an attack on democracy itself.

Because let me tell you…the next time Russia…or MAGA…or any foreign or domestic authoritarian network tests this playbook…they won’t stop at a whisper. They’ll escalate.

And here’s the kicker…

This isn’t just about Biden or Harris.

This isn’t just about the transition.

This is about the next election…the next president…the next generation of leaders stepping into the line of fire.

If silence under threat is normalized…we’ll raise a generation of leaders who accept intimidation as the cost of entry. And you can’t run a democracy on muzzled voices.

The only antidote is cultural. It’s people like you deciding that silence will be met with suspicion…that intimidation will be met with exposure…that we don’t give our enemies the luxury of quiet compliance.

Because here’s the truth most people won’t say out loud…

We are already in a psychological war. Not one with tanks and missiles…but one with whispers and fear and silence.

And in a psychological war…the side that keeps speaking…the side that refuses to shut up…the side that fills the void when leaders go quiet…that’s the side that wins.

So what does this mean moving forward?

It means you can no longer afford to be a spectator.

It means when you see silence…you push harder. When you sense intimidation…you call it out. When you hear the whispers…you answer with a roar.

Because our enemies aren’t just testing our leaders. They’re testing us.

And if we fail to answer…if we let silence grow…then the whisper becomes the law.

But if we answer loud…defiant…unapologetic…then silence becomes the proof of their weakness.

And that’s the path forward. Not easy. Not safe. But absolutely necessary.

Because democracy doesn’t die when leaders are threatened. It dies when the people stop shouting back.

And that’s not going to happen here…not if you keep your eyes open…not if you refuse to un-hear the silence…not if you decide that the whisper dies the moment you answer it.

So here’s your move…don’t just nod along and scroll away. Pick one elected official and hit them with a call…an email…a letter.

Demand protections for families of public servants. Demand resistance to Project 2025. Share this piece with three people who think silence is “just politics.” Because if you answer the whisper with action…the whisper dies on contact.

I packed a hell of a lot into this issue of JHN…so this will definitely be the only thing you’ll see from me here…today. You’re going to need the mental space to let your mind process this one.

I’ll be back soon…with even more.

Warmly,

-Jack