The House Oversight Committee interviews top Biden aides over alleged efforts to conceal Biden’s mental decline; Trump orders DOJ probe.

Congress Investigates Claims of Concealed Cognitive Issues

The House Oversight Committee is intensifying its investigation into claims that senior aides in the Biden administration deliberately concealed signs of former President Joe Biden’s declining mental acuity. This week, lawmakers are conducting a series of closed-door interviews with high-ranking former White House officials in an effort to uncover whether key decisions and executive actions were taken without Biden’s full involvement.

On Tuesday, former Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tanden met privately with committee members. Later in the week, Anthony Bernthal, former Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the First Lady, is also scheduled to testify. The panel has additional interviews planned with other former Biden officials, including Annie Tomasini and Ashley Williams, and is seeking further testimony from close advisers such as former Chief of Staff Ron Klain and former Senior Advisor Anita Dunn.

Biden’s former physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, is expected to sit down with House investigators next month, as the committee widens its focus to include medical assessments made during Biden’s presidency.

Closed-Door Testimonies Target Executive Process

Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., stated that the investigation seeks to determine whether senior staff in the Biden White House circumvented the former president by authorizing important executive orders using the autopen—a mechanical device that replicates a signature—without his knowledge or consent. Such actions, if proven, could indicate a deliberate effort to mask Biden’s cognitive challenges from both the public and other branches of government.

Unlike public congressional hearings, these sessions are being held in private to facilitate more candid exchanges and thorough questioning. The interviews will be fully transcribed and are expected to be released after review. Comer argued that the private format enables lawmakers to extract more substantive information from witnesses without the distractions and interruptions of public sessions.

“I’ve studied history, there’s never been a committee hearing that did what it’s supposed to do,” Comer remarked. “But these depositions and interviews, do. You’ve got one hour, you’re not interrupted, you don’t have to go five minutes back and forth. So to extract information, we’re going to go with the interviews. We could have a hearing later on, but right now, I think we can get more done quicker with interviews.”

Trump Orders Justice Department Investigation

In a parallel move, President Donald Trump has instructed the Department of Justice to open its own investigation into the alleged cover-up. He has directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington to oversee the probe, signaling a significant escalation in the political and legal stakes surrounding the controversy.

Responding to the investigation, former President Biden insisted that he alone made all final decisions during his time in office, dismissing the congressional inquiry and the Trump administration’s probe as a “distraction.”

Among the committee’s central questions is whether Biden’s top aides acted unilaterally, using the autopen or other methods to approve executive actions, potentially bypassing presidential authority and undermining transparency at the highest levels of government.

The outcome of these investigations could carry significant consequences for future executive branch operations and political accountability. As both the legislative and executive branches pursue parallel inquiries, the public awaits further details from the closed-door testimonies and the official release of interview transcripts in the weeks ahead.