Michael Donilon, a longtime advisor to former President Joe Biden, sat down with House Oversight Committee investigators for approximately six hours to discuss his potential financial incentives for Biden’s 2024 re-election. During the session, a source familiar with the conversation revealed that Donilon could have earned up to $8 million if Biden had succeeded in his re-election bid. This amount would have included $4 million already paid for his work on Biden’s 2024 campaign, according to the source.
Donilon, who served as a senior advisor to Biden for the entire four-year term, has now become the eighth former White House official to appear before the committee as part of an ongoing investigation into whether the former president’s inner circle concealed evidence of his alleged mental decline. The committee is also examining whether executive actions were signed via autopen without Biden’s full awareness. Donilon stated that he was not aware of the autopen’s use and had no knowledge of its existence, as per the source.
Donilon’s testimony adds to the contentious nature of the probe, with Republicans accusing the Biden team of attempting to smear and embarrass them. A source familiar with the Biden team’s thinking previously called Republicans’ probe ‘dangerous’ and ‘an attempt to smear and embarrass.’ The source added that their hope was for just one tiny inconsistency between witnesses to appear so that Trump’s DOJ could prosecute his political opponents and continue his campaign of revenge.
Donilon is the latest ex-Biden administration official to sit down with the committee behind closed doors as it investigates whether the former president’s inner circle covered up evidence of his alleged mental decline. The committee is also examining whether executive actions were signed via autopen without Biden’s full awareness. Donilon told investigators he did not know what the autopen was used for and did not recall having any knowledge of the autopen, the source told Fox News Digital.
Donilon, who was the top strategist for Biden’s 2020 and 2024 campaigns, would have apparently earned some $8 million total if Biden won. The $4 million he would have gained in addition would have come if Biden had won in 2024. Biden infamously dropped out of the 2024 race after his disastrous debate against Donald Trump in June of that year, after weeks of mounting pressure by fellow Democrats, both in public and in private.
Donilon told investigators he ‘believes the punditry and Democrats in Congress overreacted after Joe Biden’s disastrous debate,’ the source said. Donilon also argued Biden’s communications skills ‘got stronger’ during his time as president, the source added. ‘During his interview, Mr. Donilon admitted that Joe Biden’s presence wasn’t as commanding, and he could stumble over more words. Mr. Donilon stated he was frustrated and knew it was difficult to get past the visuals of President Biden that people were seeing,’ the source said.
In his opening statement, obtained by Fox News Digital, Donilon emphasized his 40-year relationship with Biden and touted the Democratic administration’s accomplishments through the COVID-19 pandemic, the rebound in job growth in its wake and the Inflation Reduction Act and other legislative wins. ‘I was with President Joe Biden from his first day in office to the last day. What I saw, day in and day out, was a leader who was deeply engaged and in command on critical issues, both at home and abroad,’ Donilon said in his statement. ‘Every President ages over the four years of a presidency and President Biden did as well, but he also continued to grow stronger and wiser as a leader as a result of being tested by some of the most difficult challenges any President has ever faced. I thought that experience was enormously valuable for the nation. I believed that President Biden was the best person to lead the country on the day he took the oath of office and I continued to believe that was true every day he served as President.’
Donilon is the eighth ex-Biden White House official to appear for the probe led by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. A source familiar with the Biden team’s thinking previously called Republicans’ probe ‘dangerous’ and ‘an attempt to smear and embarrass.’ ‘And their hope is for just one tiny inconsistency between witnesses to appear so that Trump’s DOJ prosecute his political opponents and continue his campaign of revenge,’ that source said. Fox News Digital reached out to Donilon’s lawyer and a representative for Biden for comment. Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.
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