Biden breakdown: Where do investigations into the former president stand?
Former President Joe Biden left office in January, but questions about his mental acuity and decline while in office continue to mount amid the release of audio of his interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur and his cancer diagnosis, drawing attention to a number of actions taken in his final days in office and beyond.
Here's a look at the known, active investigations into the former president and his team:
Biden used his final weeks as commander-in-chief to grant clemency and pardon more than 1,500 individuals, in what the White House described at the time as the largest single-day act of clemency by a U.S. president.
The Justice Department is reviewing the list of people that were granted pardons by Biden, amid concerns about his use of an autopen to automatically sign documents.
DOJ Pardon Attorney Ed Martin is reviewing the list of Biden-era pardons granted during the former president's final weeks in office, including the one granted to his son Hunter and the preemptive pardons granted to Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Gen. Mark Milley, Biden family members and members of the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riots.
But Biden only signed one pardon by hand during his final weeks in office — and it was his most controversial one — for his son Hunter.
Biden pardoned his son Hunter in December 2024 after vowing to the American people for months he would not do so.
Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felony gun offenses during special counsel David Weiss' investigation. The first son was also charged with federal tax crimes over his alleged failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.
Before his trial, Hunter Biden entered a surprise guilty plea.
Former President Joe Biden in December 2024 announced a blanket pardon that applies to any offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden "has committed or may have committed" from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.
"From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department's decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted," the former president said.
"There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they've tried to break me — and there's no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough," he said.
"I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision."
The House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is leading an investigation into an alleged cover-up of Biden's mental decline.
The investigation, specifically, is into whether those inside Biden's inner-circle knowingly colluded to hide the former president's declining mental acuity and used methods to circumvent the former president when it came to the issuance of important orders, particularly through the use of an autopen tool used to mimic the president's signature.
So far, four former Biden aides have agreed to voluntarily testify for transcribed interviews, including the director of Biden's former Domestic Policy Council Neera Tanden, Biden's assistant and senior advisor to the first lady, Anthony Bernal, former special assistant to Biden and Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations, Ashley Williams, and Biden's Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini.
Tanden will appear before the House Oversight Committee on June 24, Bernal two days later on June 26, while Williams will testify July 11 and Tomasini on July 18.
But Biden's former White House doctor, Kevin O'Connor, declined an invitation to sit for a transcribed interview scheduled for June 27.
Comer subpoenaed O'Connor to compel that testimony.
Comer sent letters to five more top former Biden staffers, putting his total outreach in the investigation to 10 people so far.
The latest round of letters are being sent to former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, former senior communications advisor Anita Dunn, former top advisors Michael Donilon and Steve Ricchetti, and former Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Bruce Reed.
Former President Joe Biden was diagnosed with an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer in May.
"Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms," Biden's team shared in a statement. "On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone."
"While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians," the statement said.
During his presidency, Biden had a "cancerous" skin lesion removed from his chest, the White House said at the time.
Biden, during a 2022 speech discussing pollution in his home state, said: "That's why I and so damn many other people I grew up (with) have cancer."
But Comer has expanded his investigation into Biden's mental decline to include an investigation into the timeline of when Biden learned he had cancer.
"If you'll remember, Joe Biden did an interview several years ago and said he had cancer. The White House quickly issued a statement saying, oh, he misspoke," Comer said during an appearance on Fox Business' "Mornings with Maria." "Now, how many people do you know in the history of the world that have misspoke saying they had cancer when they really didn't?"
Comer added: "So there's evidence out there that would suggest that there's been a cover-up with respect to his cancer for many years, just based on Joe Biden's own words."
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