Ex-Biden aide testifies in House GOP probe
Joe Biden's former chief of staff appeared before congressional investigators to testify in the House Republican's inquiry into the former president's cognitive state. Ron Klain, 63, appeared on Capitol Hill Thursday morning for a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee. Committee chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has been investigating whether former Biden officials intentionally hid signs of the president's decline.
He is also probing the aide's use of the autopen, an instrument used to sign official documents, like letters, executive actions and possibly even legislation. The committee seeks to uncover whether orders were signed without the commander-in-chief's full knowledge. Klain worked as Biden's White House chief of staff from January 2021 until February 2023; he also worked as the Democrat 's chief of staff when he was vice president.
The ex-chief of staff is the sixth former Biden aide to testify in the probe. He did arrive to his meeting with lawmakers voluntarily - one of three of the ex-staffers to do so. Biden's senior advisors Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal, along with ex-White House doctor Kevin O'Connor, were all forced to testify after being subpoenaed . All three of them pleaded their pleaded the fifth amendment protections in recent weeks.
Comer has released some video of their testimony where they repeat the same legal jargon when asked questions about the 82-year-old former president. Peppered with questions from the press when walking into the meeting, Klain, flanked with staffers, did not answer. On the other hand, he was cooperative and spoke cordially with the panel, lawmakers exiting the session told reporters.
'He answered every single question,' Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna of California told reporters. 'He was fully cooperative.' 'Unlike the other Biden officials the committee has deposed, Klain is not asserting any executive privilege or invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination,' Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs wrote on X after exiting the room. 'He is answering the Committee's questions accordingly.'
But there's still more to be uncovered, the Arizona Republican added, including questions stemming from a recent Hunter Biden interview about whether his father was given sleeping medication by his staff before his June 2024 debate with Trump. 'I still have many unanswered questions regarding who was running the country and Joe Biden's mental and physical acuity, especially in light of Hunter Biden's revelation that his father was being drugged with Ambien,' Biggs wrote. A source familiar with the interview told the Daily Mail that Klain was unaware whether Biden took Ambien the evening before the June 2024 presidential debate.
But Klain did say that 'the president appeared tired and ill before the debate.' 'Mr. Klain stated President Biden's memory got worse,' over the course of his presidency, the source said, adding the former chief of staff admitted that 'Biden was less energetic and more forgetful but he still had the acuity to govern.' Klain told lawmakers how Hillary Clinton and Biden's former National Security Advisor told him that the president was not 'politically viable' in 2024, the source said.
'Sullivan told Klain that Joe Biden was less effective in 2024 compared to 2022.' The last Biden aide to sit for questioning, Tomasini, invoked her right to remain silent and avoid incrimination during her closed-door interview with the Republican-led committee last Friday. Tomasini's interview lasted less than an hour and videos show she did not answer any reporter questions on her way in or out of the private session.
Footage of the transcribed interview published by Comer showed Tomanisi repeatedly invoking her right to remain silent. Comer has called the cover-up a 'historic scandal.' Earlier this month, the Kentucky congressman accused Dr. O'Connor of a conspiracy to 'cover up' Biden's cognitive decline .
O'Connor cited provider-patient privilege as his reason for pleading the fifth. His lawyer, ahead of his testimony, expressed concern about what O'Connor would be able to say without violating doctor-patient confidentiality laws. The physician was in charge of Biden's annual physical and repeatedly deemed Biden fit to hold office. Republicans charge the former president's inner circle engaged in a conspiracy to hide cognitive decline, which eventually forced him out of his 2024 re-election bid.
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