Four former staffers of President Joe Biden have agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee as part of a Republican-led investigation into what GOP lawmakers allege was a coordinated effort to conceal the president’s mental decline, Axios reported.
The committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has scheduled interviews beginning June 24.
Neera Tanden, who served as director of the Domestic Policy Council, will be the first to testify on June 24, according to an Oversight committee aide. Anthony Bernal, a former senior adviser to former first lady Jill Biden, will appear on June 26. Ashley Williams, who served as a special assistant to the president, is set for a July 11 interview. And Annie Tomasini, Biden’s former deputy chief of staff, will testify on July 18.
The committee has also sought interviews with former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, senior advisers Anita Dunn and Mike Donilon, deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, and counselor Steve Ricchetti.
And last week, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician, was issued a subpoena after he declined a voluntary request to appear. Comer said the subpoena was necessary to determine who was making key decisions during Biden’s term.
Many of the people the committee wants to hear from are referenced in “Original Sin,” a book by Axios reporter Alex Thompson and CNN anchor Jake Tapper that alleges Biden’s aides worked to hide signs of the president’s apparent cognitive decline from the public and within the administration.
“The cover-up of President Biden’s mental decline is one of the greatest scandals in our nation’s history,” Comer said in a June 4 statement. He added that O’Connor and other senior Biden officials must “provide truthful answers about President Biden’s cognitive state and who was calling the shots.”
Last week, President Donald Trump directed his administration to investigate Biden’s actions as president, alleging aides masked his predecessor’s “cognitive decline” and casting doubts on the legitimacy of his use of the autopen to sign pardons and other documents.
In response, Biden said in a statement: “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.
“This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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