GOP Report Alleges Biden Cognitive Decline, Cites Autopen Use and Witness Fifth Amendment Pleas
A new report from House Republicans alleges a “cover-up” of President Biden’s mental acuity, but lacks concrete evidence of wrongdoing.
House Republicans on Tuesday released a highly anticipated report scrutinizing former President Biden’s use of an autopen during his time in office, leveling a sweeping critique of his administration and inner circle. The 100-page document, delivered amidst a government shutdown and congressional stalemate, largely reiterates previously reported information while making broad accusations regarding the operations of the Biden White House. Despite extensive interviews and a lengthy investigation, the report does not present any definitive proof that White House aides conspired to enact policies without Biden’s awareness or that the president was unaware of laws, pardons, or executive orders signed under his name.
The core of the GOP’s argument centers on contested claims that Biden experienced a decline in mental state severe enough to allow officials to implement policies without his full knowledge. The report heavily focuses on pardons granted during his presidency, including one issued to his son, Hunter Biden, drawing from depositions with close Biden aides. “The cost of the scheme to hide the fallout of President Biden’s diminished physical and mental acuity was great but will likely never be fully calculated,” the report states. “The cover-up put American national security at risk and the nation’s trust in its leaders in jeopardy.”
Biden has vehemently denied these claims, dismissing them as “ridiculous and false.” Democrats on the House Oversight committee have characterized the investigation as a politically motivated distraction and a misuse of resources.
The release of the report comes at a turbulent political juncture, ten months into the current administration, with the federal government currently operating under a continuing resolution due to congressional gridlock. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has adjourned the House for nearly a month, significantly curtailing committee activity.
Johnson publicly promoted the report at a press conference, asserting that its findings could have “major implications” for the legality of Biden’s actions, particularly regarding pardons. “The president was checked out of his job for quite some time, and everybody knows it,” Johnson stated. The report, compiled over several months, relies heavily on interviews with over a dozen individuals from Biden’s inner circle, but offers few novel revelations, instead drawing broad conclusions from unanswered questions. It frequently references polls regarding Biden’s approval rating and public perceptions of his gaffes and apparent aging – information largely already in the public domain.
The report alleges a deliberate “cover-up of the president’s cognitive decline” orchestrated by Biden’s closest advisors, specifically targeting his physician, Kevin O’Connor, who invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during testimony. Senior aides Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini also pleaded the Fifth, and Republicans have called for further scrutiny of all three by the Justice Department. Furthermore, Republicans sent a letter to the D.C. Board of Medicine requesting disciplinary action against O’Connor, potentially including the revocation of his medical license.
Notably, the report does not include complete transcripts of the recorded testimony provided by witnesses before the committee. It repeatedly criticizes Biden officials and Democratic allies for defending the president’s mental state, claiming that the “inner-most circle…organized one of the largest scandals in American history — hiding a cognitively failing president.” While the report suggests that record-keeping practices within the Biden White House were “so lax that the chain of custody for a given decision is difficult or impossible to establish,” it fails to provide specific instances of a broken chain of command or policies enacted without Biden’s explicit approval.
Republicans maintain that any executive actions taken using the autopen should be considered invalid without documented proof of Biden’s direct approval. “Barring evidence of executive actions taken during the Biden presidency showing that President Biden indeed took a particular executive action, the committee deems those actions taken through use of the autopen as void,” the report concludes. However, Democrats and legal scholars caution that such broad scrutiny of executive actions could create legal challenges for future administrations, including the current one, and congressional Republicans, who also utilize similar devices like the presidential autopen.
