Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has conducted transcribed interviews with “more than half a dozen” former Biden officials as part of his investigation into the ex-president’s apparent mental decline.
In a brief interview, Johnson, who runs the investigative arm of the Senate’s Government Affairs Committee, declined to name the officials who sat for interviews but previously disclosed that Tom Vilsack, the former agriculture secretary under President Joe Biden, was the first to appear earlier this summer.
His panel will compile a report from the investigation, which began in May after the bombshell book Original Sin alleged a cover-up of Biden’s mental state. Johnson sent letters to 28 Cabinet members requesting that they sit for voluntary interviews.
The House Oversight Committee is conducting a parallel inquiry intent on demonstrating that Biden’s inner circle shielded his health from public scrutiny. Its chairman, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), has resorted to subpoenas to compel testimony.
Comer’s team has interviewed 11 officials so far to evaluate whether the White House used an autopen device to sign clemency decisions without direct input from Biden, with varying levels of cooperation from the former officials.
All have denied that Biden was mentally diminished, though the interviews have offered a window into how decisions were made under his administration and when he delegated use of the autopen.
Comer has given oxygen to the investigation with his disclosure of interview findings, most recently revealing that Ian Sams, a top White House spokesman, only met with Biden in person twice across his two-year tenure.
Johnson, by contrast, has cut a low profile with his investigation and downplayed any explosive revelations from the interviews. Instead, he said, the sitdowns are chiefly for historical posterity.
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“No bombshells yet, nothing unexpected,” Johnson told the Washington Examiner. “People are towing the company line, which is pretty much what I expected.”
This month, Comer’s team will conduct additional interviews with Andrew Bates and Karine Jean-Pierre, who together helped run Biden’s press office, and Jeff Zients, his former chief of staff.