Biden Officials To Testify About Former President’s Mental Fitness

Several of former President Joe Biden’s White House staffers are poised to testify before the House Oversight Committee in the coming weeks for an investigation into Biden’s mental state and whether he authorized the use of autopen signatures for major executive actions.

Former Director of the Domestic Policy Council Neera Tanden and Former Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the First Lady Anthony Bernal have agreed to voluntarily appear for transcribed interviews on June 24 and June 26, respectively, according to a House Oversight Committee aide.

Additionally, the aide said, Former Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations Ashley Williams is scheduled to participate in a voluntary transcribed interview on July 11 and Former Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini is expected to show up for the same kind of session on July 18.

House Republicans are looking into efforts to cover up Biden’s fitness and the potential unauthorized use of an autopen for official presidential acts, including pardons. Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) has demanded testimony from various former White House aides and revealed last week that he subpoenaed former White House physician Kevin O’Connor to testify on Capitol Hill on June 27.

Democrats have scoffed at the GOP’s probe.

Biden, now 82, abandoned his 2024 re-election bid following a faltering debate against now-President Donald Trump amid pressure from allies. A new book by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on Biden’s “decline” and the “cover-up,” alongside the former president’s recent “aggressive” prostate cancer diagnosis and the release of audio from special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with him, has intensified scrutiny.

Trump ordered a separate investigation last week into whether aides improperly used an autopen for executive actions in an effort to conceal Biden’s health issues, suggesting there could be “implications” for the legality and validity of the presidential acts in question.

In a statement, Biden pushed back on the notion that he did not dictate his executive actions.

“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” Biden said. “This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans.”