House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) is expanding his congressional investigation into the Biden administration’s cover-up of former President Biden’s mental decline during his presidential term.
Comer wrote letters to five former senior Biden officials Wednesday asking them to voluntarily appear for interviews before the House Oversight Committee. The officials are former senior adviser Mike Donilon, former senior adviser for communications Anita Dunn, former chief of staff Ron Klain, former deputy chief of staff for policy Bruce Reed, and former counselor to the president Steve Richetti.
“The American people deserve full transparency and the House Oversight Committee is conducting a thorough investigation to provide answers and accountability,” Comer said.
“The cover-up of President Biden’s mental decline is one of the greatest scandals in our nation’s history. These five former senior advisors were eyewitnesses to President Biden’s condition and operations within the Biden White House.”
If the Biden officials decline to appear, Comer could resort to subpoenas compelling them to give testimony.
The five officials are all top Biden confidantes who would have had front row seats to Biden’s mental decline and the administration’s efforts to run the country nonetheless. Biden’s top aides have faced harsh criticism since the publication of bombshell book Original Sin exposed the role they played in concealing his condition from the public.
According to the book, a source familiar with White House dynamics said “five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board.”
Donilon, Richetti, Reed, and Klain were all part of the “politburo,” a group of Biden advisers calling the shots as the president’s mental acuity slipped, according to the book authored by Axios‘s Alex Thompson and CNN anchor Jake Tapper.
Comer is investigating Biden’s mental decline in the context of autopen signatures of his sweeping pardons and other executive actions towards the end of his term. He has also requested interviews from Biden’s physician and confidant, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, and four former White House aides, three of whom were known for being part of Biden’s inner circle. Comer previously helped lead the high-profile impeachment inquiry into then-President Biden based on Biden’s role in his troubled son Hunter’s foreign business dealings during and after Joe Biden’s vice presidency.
Last month, newly released audio of Biden’s October 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur laid bare his memory issues and difficulty speaking before the disastrous June 2024 debate performance that led to Biden dropping out of the presidential race. Once Biden dropped out, then-Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee and lost decisively to President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Biden was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, leading to additional scrutiny of the previous administration’s management of Biden’s health. He and his family members have dismissed Original Sin and the widespread belief that Biden’s mind was failing him throughout his presidency.
The book’s inside account follows years of conservatives observing Biden’s mental lapses in speeches and public appearances. Before Biden’s downfall, polls consistently showed a large majority of the American people were concerned about his age.