Top Biden Aide Made $4M On Re-Election Campaign, Would Have Made Way More If They Won

Former President Joe Biden’s top political aide, Mike Donilon, was paid $4 million for his work on Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign and promised an additional $4 million if Biden won, Donilon told congressional investigators on Thursday.

The news, first reported by Axios, shows Donilon had a financial incentive to push Biden to run again and remain in the race as questions arose about the octogenarian president’s declining cognitive fitness and his ability to lead for another four years.

Donilon was interviewed during the GOP-led House Oversight Committee’s investigation into Biden’s fitness for office.

Donilon told the committee that Biden “continued to grow stronger and wiser as a leader as a result of being tested by some of the most difficult challenges any president has ever faced,” according to a copy of an opening statement obtained by Axios.

Donilon said he believed the nation overreacted to Biden’s debate performance, when both sides ridiculed him as appearing to be disoriented. Biden dropped out of the race less than one month later.

Donilon’s $4 million payday was first reported in the book “Original Sin,” which was co-written by Axios reporter Alex Thompson. The possible $4 million bonus if Biden won had not been previously reported. According to the book, Donilon left the White House to work on the re-election campaign in early 2024 and insisted on the multi-million-dollar deal. It also states that Biden’s campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, was paid $300,000 despite starting on the campaign at the same time as Donilon.

Donilon had worked for Biden for decades, Axios reported. Other Biden aides have suggested Donilon led the campaign into disaster because of his self-interest and affection for the former president, the outlet noted.

Axios said both Donilon and his spokesperson declined to comment.

“Original Sin” reported that Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, believed the president’s aides were not doing enough to take care of Biden. He pleaded the Fifth when interviewed by the Oversight Committee about Biden’s mental state.