House Republicans unveiled their long-promised report on former President Joe Biden’s autopen use on Tuesday, bringing a blistering critique of his time in office and an inner circle that largely twists public information while making sweeping allegations about the workings of his White House.
The GOP report contains no concrete evidence that aides conspired to enact policies without Biden’s knowledge, or that the president was unaware of bills, pardons or executive orders signed on his behalf. But Republicans said their findings call into question every move by Democrats in office. They sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi calling for a full investigation. Republican President Donald Trump ordered a similar investigation earlier this year.
At its core, the report supports disputed claims that Biden’s mental state declined to the point that he allowed White House officials to enact policies without his knowledge. There is much focus on the pardons he granted in office, including his son Hunter Biden, based on testimony from close Biden aides.
Read also | Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into the actions of Joe Biden’s predecessor as president
“The cost of the system to hide the effects of President Biden’s reduced physical and mental acuity has been high, but will likely never be fully quantified,” the report said. “The cover-up threatened America’s national security and threatened the nation’s trust in its leaders.”
Biden strongly denied being aware of his administration’s actions, calling the claims “ridiculous and false”. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee denounced the investigation as a distraction and a waste of time.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top watchdog Democrat, said in a statement that the GOP report was a “bogus investigation” and that testimony from Biden associates “makes clear that the former president approved every executive order, pardon and use of the autopen.” He added that the Democrats were more focused on shutting down the government than debating the previous government.
Republicans are shifting attention back to Biden at a politically tumultuous time, 10 months into Trump’s presidency, with the government shut down and Congress deadlocked over legislation to fund him. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has kept the House out of session for nearly a month, with most committee work before the public at a standstill.
Johnson touted the 100-page report at a news conference, saying the findings could have “major implications” for the legality of Biden’s actions as president, including pardons.
“The president has been removed from work for a period of time and everybody knows that,” Johnson said.
The Biden report was largely compiled months before the shutdown began. Based on interviews with more than a dozen members of Biden’s inner circle, the report offers few new revelations, instead drawing broad conclusions from unanswered questions.
Read also | Trump hits out at Biden’s controversial autopen portrait in the White House gallery
It includes repeated references to polls of Biden’s approval ratings and perceptions of his public opinion and apparent aging, most of which are public knowledge.
It alleges a “cover-up of the president’s cognitive decline” orchestrated by Biden’s inner circle, and specifically targets Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, who invoked his Fifth Amendment right against testifying. Republicans also singled out senior aides Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini, who similarly pleaded the Fifth. All three “should face further scrutiny” from the Justice Department, Republicans said.
The Republicans also sent a letter to the D.C. Board of Medicine urging that O’Connor face “discipline, sanctions or revocation of his medical license” and “be barred from practicing medicine in the District of Columbia.”
O’Connor’s lawyers told Republican Oversight over the summer that doctor-patient confidentiality precluded him from discussing his conversations with Biden or any medical care he may have provided.
While the doctor-patient privilege is a legal principle that often protects communications between health care providers and patients, courts and state laws are divided on its scope. Republicans in Congress rejected O’Connor’s use of the principle before he cited his Fifth Amendment rights during testimony.
The report does not include full transcripts of several hours of recorded witness testimony given before the commission. He repeatedly berates Biden officials and Democratic allies for defending Biden’s mental state.
“The innermost circle, or cocoon, of senior White House staff orchestrated one of the biggest scandals in American history — hiding a cognitively failing president and refusing any way to confirm such a demise,” the report said.
While the report claims the Biden White House’s record retention policy “has been so lax that it is difficult or impossible to establish a chain of custody for a given decision,” Republicans offer no specific instances of chain-of-command violations or policy adoption without Biden’s knowledge.
Still, Republicans say Biden’s use of the autopen should be considered invalid unless there is documented evidence that he approves of the decision.
“Except for evidence of executive actions taken during the Biden presidency that demonstrate that President Biden actually took specific executive action, the committee finds these actions taken with the autopen to be invalid,” the report said.
Democrats and legal experts have warned that the broad scrutiny of executive action could cause future legal headaches for the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress, who also often grant policy directed by lawmakers through devices such as the presidential autopen.
