The House Oversight Committee has obtained voluntary testimony from four senior aides to former President Joe Biden, who are expected to address allegations of a cover-up related to his mental health decline and the potential misuse of executive powers. The witnesses include Neera Tanden, director of Biden’s former Domestic Policy Council; Anthony Bernal, senior advisor to First Lady Jill Biden; Ashley Williams, former special assistant and Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations; and Annie Tomasini, Biden’s Deputy Chief of Staff. All interviews are scheduled for June and July. The investigation has also led to a subpoena for Biden’s former personal doctor, Kevin O’Connor, following his refusal to voluntarily testify.
The probe, spearheaded by Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., focuses on whether Biden’s inner-circle colluded to obscure his cognitive decline and used tools like autopen to mimic his signature for official actions. Comer has widened the inquiry to include interviews with Anita Dunn and Ron Klain, two other key figures involved in the former president’s administration. His investigation aims to determine if the administration took steps to conceal Biden’s declining mental abilities and manipulated the use of his executive authority without proper oversight.
Following the refusal of O’Connor to voluntarily testify, the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to compel his testimony. This development comes on the heels of a separate investigation launched by the Trump administration, which has been investigating similar claims. President Donald Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington to handle the probe, which Biden has called a ‘distraction’ aimed at diverting attention from legislative efforts by Republicans, including cuts to Medicaid and tax incentives for the wealthy.
Despite the ongoing legal challenges, the Biden campaign has not issued an official statement on the matter. Instead, the former president has publicly defended his decisions, stating, ‘I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.’ The administration maintains that these testimonies are part of a larger political effort to discredit the former president and undermine his legacy.