Democrats boycott Biden cognitive decline hearing
Democrats boycotted a congressional hearing into Joe Biden's mental decline.
Just two Democrat senators attended a Senate judiciary hearing probing Mr Biden's mental acuity during his time in the White House, one of whom left after delivering their opening statement.
Republicans, criticising the boycott, accused colleagues of continuing to 'stonewall' the investigation into the former US president's decline and claimed administration officials took advantage of his incapacity to take power for themselves.
Seven of the nine Democrats on the committee opted not to attend, including Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar and New Jersey senator Cory Booker, both of them former contenders for the party's presidential nomination.
The Senate judiciary Democrats group labelled the event a 'sham hearing', adding: 'We're focused on the critical challenges facing our nation. Back to business.'
Both Democrats present on Wednesday, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Peter Welch of Vermont, criticised the investigation into Mr Biden's mental acuity.
Mr Durbin claimed the committee had avoided grappling with serious issues, such as the killing of a Minnesota lawmaker on Saturday and the deployment of the National Guard to California, in favour of attacking a former president.
'Apparently, armchair diagnosing former President Biden is more important than the issues of grave concern which I have mentioned,' he said.
Mr Welch, who was one of the first Democrats in Congress to call for Mr Biden to drop out of the presidential race last year, declared the hearing had no benefit for his constituents and left after his statement.
'Biden shielded from public scrutiny'
Allegations about Mr Biden's mental decline have been given fresh impetus by the recent publication of Original Sin, by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson.
According to the book, the former president forgot the names of close aides he had known for decades, paving the way for others in the administration – including Jill Biden, the first lady – to seize influence.
'Biden aides would say that she was one of the most powerful first ladies in history,' the authors wrote.
Several Republicans criticised their counterparts for failing to turn up to the hearing, claiming it showed Democrats were still shielding Mr Biden from public scrutiny.
The party eventually turned on Mr Biden following his dire debate performance against Donald Trump in June last year, piling pressure on the US president before he ended his re-election campaign and endorsed Kamala Harris, his vice president.
Josh Hawley, the Republican senator for Missouri, said: 'The stonewall continues. They can't bear to show their faces in public.'
Alabama senator Katie Britt said: 'The fact that we have none of my Democratic colleagues over here, that… [shows] they are not interested in correcting it for the future.'
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