Latest news with #BidenInvestigation
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
More files related to Trump-Russia collusion 'hoax' expected to be released
'The Big Weekend Show' co-hosts discuss the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion 'hoax' and the investigation into former President Joe Biden's mental acuity while in office.
New York Times
09-07-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Ex-White House Doctor Refuses Questions in G.O.P. Inquiry on Biden's Mental Acuity
Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s White House physician refused on Wednesday to answer questions for a Republican-led congressional investigation into Mr. Biden's mental acuity. The doctor, Kevin O'Connor, cited both physician-patient privilege and his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to a statement that one of his lawyers read to the House Oversight Committee at the start of his scheduled closed-door deposition. Dr. O'Connor, who served all four years as Mr. Biden's doctor in the White House, had been subpoenaed by Republicans on the oversight panel who are investigating whether Mr. Biden and his aides concealed mental deficiencies that made him unable to perform presidential duties. The inquiry includes questions about whether Mr. Biden's staff abused an autopen, a device routinely used by presidents to put their signatures to formal documents, to illegally carry out official actions in his name. Presidents have for decades used an autopen to sign all manner of documents, including major legislation; doing so is legal as long as a president authorizes it. President Trump and his allies have been stoking a theory that Mr. Biden suffered from severe age-related decline that left him incapable of making presidential decisions at all, making any action taken in his name via the device legally invalid. In a statement, Representative James Comer, Republican of Kentucky and the Oversight chairman, blasted Dr. O'Connor for refusing to cooperate and suggested he was trying to hide something. 'It's clear there was a conspiracy to cover up President Biden's cognitive decline after Dr. Kevin O'Connor, Biden's physician and family business associate, refused to answer any questions and chose to hide behind the Fifth Amendment,' he said. 'The American people demand transparency, but Dr. O'Connor would rather conceal the truth.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Comer subpoenas Jill Biden ‘work husband' for July testimony
House Republicans investigating former President Biden's mental fitness while in office are flexing their subpoena power to get testimony from Anthony Bernal, who was a top aide to former first lady Jill Biden. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) issued a subpoena Thursday for a deposition from Bernal on July 16 after Bernal, who was reportedly so close to the former first lady that he was referred to as her 'work husband,' notified the committee Wednesday that he would not take part in an interview that was scheduled Thursday. President Trump's administration suspended legal protections for Biden officials testifying in the probe the day before Bernal was to take part in a transcribed interview with the committee. 'You have refused the Committee's request. However, to advance the Committee'soversight and legislative responsibilities and interests, your testimony is critical,' Comer wrote in a Thursday letter to Bernal. Comer had blasted Bernal publicly Wednesday after he said he'd skip the committee's scheduled interview with him. 'Now that the White House has waived executive privilege, it's abundantly clear that Anthony Bernal — Jill Biden's so-called 'work husband' — never intended to be transparent about Joe Biden's cognitive decline and the ensuing cover-up,' Comer said in a statement. 'With no privilege left to hide behind, Mr. Bernal is now running scared, desperate to bury the truth.' 'The American people deserve answers and accountability, and the Oversight Committee will not tolerate this obstruction,' Comer added. 'To avoid any further delays, your appearance before the Committee is now compelled.' Bernal's influence in the Biden administration was detailed in the book 'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again' by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios's Alex Thompson. 'He considered loyalty to be the defining virtue and would wield that word to elevate some and oust others – at times fairly and at times not. 'Are you a Biden person?' he would ask West Wing aides. 'Is so-and-so a Biden person?' The regular interrogations led some colleagues to dub him the leader of the 'loyalty police,'' the reporters wrote. Comer has questioned who had authority to use the presidential autopen to sign off on White House actions while Biden was in office. The 'Original Sin' authors wrote that one source told them that 'five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board.' 'The cover-up of President Biden's mental decline is one of the greatest scandals in our nation's history,' Comer said earlier this month in announcing the expansion of his investigation. 'These five former senior advisers were eyewitnesses to President Biden's condition and operations within the Biden White House.' He also has sought testimony from top Biden aides Michael Donilon, Anita Dunn, Ron Klain, Bruce Reed and Steve Ricchetti. The panel privately interviewed Neera Tanden, who was the former president's staff secretary, earlier this week. Comer said Tanden revealed 'she had minimal interaction with President Biden, despite wielding tremendous authority.' 'Her testimony raises serious questions about who was really calling the shots in the Biden White House amid the President's obvious decline,' the Oversight chair said. Comer's committee sought to subpoena Bernal last year after then-President Biden faltered in the presidential debate with Trump and ultimately dropped his reelection bid, but the Biden administration refused to waive executive privilege that shields White House staffers from divulging private conversations with presidents. Axios reported that a person familiar with Bernal's interactions with the House Oversight panel disputed Comer's characterization of Bernal's stance on testifying. 'Calling this a 'refusal' is misleading, when there was simply a request to reschedule the interview,' the person, whom Axios did not name, told the outlet. The former president's official office didn't immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Probe into Biden's alleged mental decline cover-up deepens with more former White House officials to testify
The House Oversight Committee is expanding its investigation into an alleged cover-up of former President Joe Biden's mental decline and possible unauthorized executive actions, and nine former senior White House officials will testify in the coming weeks. An Oversight Committee aide familiar with the interview schedule told Fox News Digital five more former senior White House staff members have agreed to appear voluntarily for transcribed interviews. Ronald Klain, former chief of staff under Biden; Steve Ricchetti, former counselor to the president; Mike Donilon, former senior advisor to the president; Bruce Reed, former deputy chief of staff for policy; and Anita Dunn, former senior advisor to the president for communications, will appear for transcribed interviews July 24 through Aug. 7. According to the aide, two other former high-ranking Biden White House officials, Ashley Williams, former special assistant to the president, and Annie Tomasini, former deputy director of Oval Office operations, former assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff, are voluntarily appearing for transcribed interviews on July 11 and July 18, respectively. Not all former Biden officials, however, have agreed to testify voluntarily. Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has issued subpoenas compelling Dr. Kevin O'Connor, Biden's physician, and Anthony Bernal, a former assistant to the president and senior advisor to the first lady, to appear for depositions. The aide said O'Connor's deposition is scheduled for July 9, while Bernal's is schedule for July 16. These interviews are part of the committee's ongoing investigation into the alleged attempted cover-up of Biden's decline and the potentially unauthorized issuance of sweeping pardons and other executive actions by senior White House officials usurping Biden's presidential authority. Comer has been on the hunt for who was making decisions in Biden's inner circle during the president's apparent mental decline. Last Friday, he sent letters to former Biden White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, former White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, former senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates and former special assistant to the president Ian Sams, demanding they present themselves for transcribed interviews with the oversight committee. In his letters, Comer says the committee believes that the four top Biden staffers have "critical" information on "who made key decisions and exercised the powers of the executive branch during the previous administration, possibly without former President Biden's consent." He said that "if White House staff carried out a strategy lasting months or even years to hide the chief executive's condition — or to perform his duties — Congress may need to consider a legislative response." Comer set interview dates for late August and early September and gave the four senior officials until July 4 to confirm they would comply with the demands voluntarily or if they will "require a subpoena to compel your attendance for a deposition." In a statement to Fox News Digital last week, Comer said that "as part of our aggressive investigation into the cover-up of his cognitive decline and potentially unauthorized executive actions, we must hear from those who aided and abetted this farce."
CBS News
27-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Former top aide to Jill Biden subpoenaed in House GOP's Biden age probe
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have subpoenaed Anthony Bernal, a senior aide to former first lady Jill Biden, as part of their rapidly expanding investigation into former President Joe Biden's mental fitness while in office. The subpoena — signed Thursday by Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican Oversight chairman — requires Bernal to appear for a deposition on July 16. It came after several weeks of back-and-forth with Bernal's lawyer over the timing of a voluntary interview, which Comer says ended with Bernal withdrawing from an interview scheduled for Thursday. "Given your close connection with both former President Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden, the Committee sought to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden's fitness to serve from the American people," a cover letter for the subpoena reads. "To avoid any further delays, your appearance before the Committee is now compelled." Bernal is the second former Biden staffer to be subpoenaed by the committee and unlikely to be the last. The committee this week heard voluntary testimony from Neera Tanden, a former director of Biden's domestic policy counsel, and is intent on securing interviews with several other members of Biden's inner circle as part of its investigation. CBS News has reached out to Bernal's attorney for comment. Comer has also subpoenaed Dr. Kevin O'Connor, who served as Biden's physician at the White House. O'Connor will testify before the committee on July 9. The committee said it compelled O'Connor to testify after his lawyers said he could not appear for an interview, arguing it would violate local laws and ethical rules against doctors disclosing confidential medical information. It's all part of a Republican effort, supported by President Trump, to investigate the last occupant of the Oval Office. Mr. Trump himself has ordered White House lawyers and the Justice Department to investigate Biden's aides, questioning the legitimacy of his alleged use of the autopen to sign pardons and other documents. Mr. Trump has long suggested that the use of autopen could nullify some of Biden's executive actions, an idea some legal experts have pushed back on. In a statement earlier this month, Biden called the attacks "ridiculous and false," and said, "I made the decisions during my presidency," including on pardons. Boosting the GOP investigation, Mr. Trump has waived executive privilege for eight former Biden administration officials to testify to Congress, including Bernal, a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and insisted on anonymity told the Associated Press. Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that allows presidents to keep certain internal communications secret. With the privilege lifted, former staffers are free to discuss their interactions with Biden while he was president. Comer said Bernal's attorneys had initially offered to do a transcribed interview on Thursday, but then on Wednesday, his lawyers told the committee he was not willing to appear voluntarily on that date. Comer accused him of "running scared" after the privilege was waived. In addition to Bernal, executive privilege has been waived for Biden White House senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn, former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, former counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti, former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and a former assistant to the president, Ashley Williams. Comer is seeking interviews with all of them. Democrats have dismissed the inquiry into Biden's mental state as a partisan exercise that distracts from other pressing issues. Rep. Wesley Bell, a Missouri Democrat who sits on the Oversight committee, said after the interview with Tanden that it "was an extraordinary waste of time" and produced "no new evidence." Bell said lawmakers should focus on issues like the costs of food, housing and potential changes to healthcare policy rather than "dig up some kind of post-impeachment, or whatever we're doing here." The unfolding investigation has grown in scope in recent weeks, as new reporting emerges about Biden's final year in office — including concerns about his age and the circumstances of his decision not to run for reelection. Biden has long denied that his cognitive abilities had faded while in office. The probe could have significant implications for politics and policy. Republican lawmakers have argued that any executive actions or policies enacted through the autopen procedure could be found invalid if Biden were somehow incapacitated or not of a sound state of mind while in office. Mr. Trump and his allies have claimed, without evidence, that Biden was not aware of the actions his administration had taken on a range of issues, including on pardons, environmental policy and labor rights, among other issues. A move to reverse such executive actions, which would almost certainly face legal scrutiny and a battle in the courts, could impact scores of executive orders taken throughout Biden's term. "Let this subpoena send a clear message to Biden's inner circle: We will stop at nothing to expose the truth about Joe Biden's decline (and) unauthorized use of the autopen," Comer wrote on social media.
