US House report details Biden’s decline, claiming he was impaired as president

WASHINGTON – The US House Oversight Committee on Oct 28 released its long-anticipated investigative report on former President Joe Biden’s cognitive condition, accusing his inner circle of concealing a mental decline and claiming, without evidence, that he was so impaired that he could not make his own decisions.

The 100-page report, titled The Biden Autopen Presidency: Decline, Delusion, and Deception in the White House concludes that many of the executive actions Mr Biden took, including pardons of his family, should be considered “void” because there is no record that he made the decisions himself.

It offers no proof that was the case, other than an account of his aides’ actions that treads over well-worn territory to conclude that they engaged in a coordinated “cover-up” of the former president’s age and health issues.

In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Mr James R. Comer, chair of the Oversight Committee, requested an investigation into all executive actions taken during the Biden presidency, to see if they were “duly authorised” by Mr Biden. The letter suggested that the report was intended to be used as grounds for a future prosecution by the Justice Department.

Ms Bondi wrote in a social media post that her department was reviewing Mr Biden’s use of an autopen for pardons and that she would work with House Republicans to “deliver accountability for the American people”.

Mr Biden pardoned his son Hunter in the final weeks of his presidency. He also issued full and unconditional pardons to five family members who had not been charged with crimes. They included James B. Biden, his brother; Sara Jones Biden, James’ wife; Valerie Biden Owens, the former president’s sister; John T. Owens, Owens’ husband; and Francis W. Biden, the youngest of the former president’s siblings.

Unauthorised use of the autopen, a device that has long been used by presidents of both parties to sign legislation and other presidential orders, has been a long-running preoccupation for President Donald Trump.

Along a colonnade at the White House, Mr Trump recently hung gilded portraits of all of the former presidents except Mr Biden. Instead of a portrait of the 46th president, Mr Trump displayed a framed picture of an autopen.

Mr Comer’s letter asked Ms Bondi to investigate key Biden advisers whose actions, he said, could constitute criminal activity. He singled out Mr Anthony Bernal, Ms Annie Tomasini and Dr Kevin O’Connor, the president’s former physician, all of whom invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to testify before the committee for its investigation.

In a statement, Mr Robert E. Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee, dismissed the report as the product of a “sham investigation”.

“Every White House official testified President Biden fully executed his duties as president of the United States,” Mr Garcia said. “The testimonies also make it clear the former president authorised every executive order, pardon, and use of the autopen.”

In outlining what it describes as a coordinated “cover-up” by his staff of the former president’s decline, the report revisits some anecdotes that by now are familiar to anyone who followed the Biden presidency. It details how aides looked for ways for Mr Biden to avoid using stairs, walking long distances, or giving unscripted remarks, even in front of small groups, often citing real-time reporting as its source.

The report recounts how the former White House chief of staff, Mr Jeff Zients, wanted a “full work-up” after Mr Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Mr Trump last summer, to examine his mental and physical fitness for office.

It includes an interview with another former chief of staff, Mr Ron Klain, who said Mr Biden’s debate prep sessions were not as alarming as his final performance in June but that they still raised concerns for him.

And it outlines how Ms Anita Dunn, a former top communications adviser, discussed with other senior staff whether Mr Biden should take a cognitive exam, but ultimately decided that such tests were meaningless.

It also delves deeper into a dynamic that has become clearer in the months since Mr Biden left office: how his closest aides managed his decline without ever acknowledging its severity or the possibility that it might interfere with his ability to do his job.

Despite many former top advisers admitting in testimony that they were aware of signs of ageing evident in Mr Biden’s memory and speech, including the return of his childhood stutter, they also said they never believed it was a serious problem that would prevent him from acting as commander in chief. The report calls that disconnect “delusional”.

Most crucially, it uses what it calls a “cover-up” of Mr Biden’s deterioration to conclude, without any further evidence, that he was unable to make executive decisions.

“There is no record demonstrating President Biden himself made all of the executive decisions that were attributed to him,” the report states. It is not clear what such a record would look like. NYTIMES