Latest news with #OversightCommittee
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats' new Oversight head: Trump commits crimes on ‘weekly basis'
House Democrats picked 47-year old California Rep. Robert Garcia to lead them on the Oversight Committee, surprising the many internal critics who'd assumed the party was married to seniority. 'I respect seniority,' Garcia told reporters after his win. 'I think our party is looking at expanding who's at that leadership table.' Garcia, the former mayor of Long Beach who arrived in the House just two and a half years ago, was not next in line for the job. He bested two Democrats with more time in office — Massachusetts' Stephen Lynch and Maryland's Kweisi Mfume. Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who's far better known than Garcia, dropped out after getting less than 10 votes from the conference. Democrats went for Garcia by a landslide, but the debate about how the party should approach oversight in the second Trump term mostly happened behind closed doors. The late Gerry Connolly, who won the job while battling cancer, served less than six months as the ranking member, and was unable to do the sort of aggressive media outreach that GOP chairman James Comer does every day. What's Garcia going to do differently? He discussed that, and this is an edited transcript of the conversation. David Weigel: Right now, Oversight is dealing with the Republican investigation of Biden's acuity and use of an autopen — Trump waiving executive privilege so that Biden officials can be interviewed by the committee. What's your strategy for responding to that? Robert Garcia: I actually participated yesterday in some of the first deposition, and I think that what's important is that there's nothing that has been produced. No new information, no new evidence, no wrongdoing by President Biden. Obviously, this is going to continue, but it's clear: What they're trying to essentially do is relitigate the past, attack President Biden, which is their favorite thing to do, while giving billionaires more tax cuts and destroying Medicare and Medicaid. So is the strategy to show up for these hearings and defend the Biden White House? Or to say, this is ridiculous? Look, we don't know what they're actually planning on doing. What we do know is that this is a complete sideshow. We already saw their initial impeachment stunt that went nowhere in the Oversight Committee. The American public wants us to focus on lowering costs, and they are relitigating what Joe Biden may or may not have said or did years ago. When you won this job, Republicans started highlighting your work as a Biden campaign co-chair in 2024, defending Biden — basically, roping you into the investigation. Do you regret any of the stuff that you were saying as a surrogate for Biden defending his ability to run again? No. I was proud to co-chair the Biden-Harris campaign. I'm proud of the president and the vice president's record of the last four years. You want to compare the infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act, to this mess? Sure. I'll have that debate. Have the GOP's Oversight investigations been effective? Sometimes, Republicans will say that they poured resources into investigating Biden, and investigating Hillary Clinton, and the work made them less electable. Did it work? Did they model anything you'd want to try? I think their strategy has been just to distract from the real issues that the American public care about. They've spent their time attacking Joe Biden's family. They've focused, in this Congress, on DOGE and Elon Musk, which has been largely unpopular with the American public. What we're going to do on Oversight is actual, real work. The Republican majority on the committee has no interest in Donald Trump accepting unlimited amounts of money in these meme coin scams or these foreign investment deals, or the $400 million plane — the list goes on and on. There's real investigation work that has to happen that they're not interested in. They're not doing real reform. We've got a great team that's ready to work on that. Well, to clarify one part of this: On impeachment, Jasmine Crockett ran for this job and suggested that she would pursue impeachment in the majority. You've suggested that the Biden impeachment inquiry last year was a huge waste of time. So how do you see impeachment in the context of what the committee's going to do? Obviously, President Trump has been impeached twice — and let's be clear, he commits crimes on a weekly basis and violates the Constitution consistently. I think impeachment is so serious, and such a monumental debate. It happens not just in Congress, but across the country. That's a decision that needs to be driven by wide consensus in the caucus and our leadership. And that's not where we're at right now. Right now we're focused on stopping these massive cuts to health care and food assistance, and this billionaire gift and transfer of wealth. That's what we're focused on. That certainly is going to be the focus for Democrats on this committee. In Texas Tribune, Owen Dahlkamp reported on Rep. Jasmine Crockett's decision to bow out of Oversight contention. 'Every hearing, every investigation, every public moment must serve the dual purpose of accountability and must demonstrate why a House Democratic majority is essential for America's future,' Crockett wrote announcing her bid. In Politico, Nicholas Wu and Hailey Fuchs wrote about Garcia's attempts to sidestep the seniority question, instead opting to fashion himself as an experienced big-city mayor who won't shy from a fight.
New York Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Ex-Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, chief of staff asked to discuss alleged cover-up of prez's health
WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee on Friday asked four senior Biden White House aides to appear for questions about the alleged coverup of the 46th president's cognitive decline. Ex-press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who has authored a forthcoming tell-all book about the 'broken' administration she served, received a summons, as did Biden's final White House chief of staff, Jeff Zients. Jean-Pierre's deputy, Andrew Bates, and former White House counsel's office spokesman Ian Sams also were asked to appear for questioning. Advertisement 'President Biden's inner circle repeatedly told the American people that he was 'sharp as ever,' dismissing any commentary about his obvious mental decline as 'gratuitous,'' said Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.). 'They fed these false talking points to progressive allies and the media, who helped perpetuate that President Biden was fit to serve. As part of our aggressive investigation into the cover-up of his cognitive decline and potentially unauthorized executive actions, we must hear from the those who aided and abetted this farce.' The panel on Tuesday interviewed Biden's former domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden, who also served nearly two years as the former president's staff secretary — one of the few figures granted authority to use an autopen for official documents. Advertisement Republicans said that Tanden claimed she infrequently interacted with Biden himself and would send memos to other senior aides regarding auto-pen decisions, and then would receive instructions in response — raising questions about who relayed the president's wishes. Comer on Thursday issued a subpoena to compel the testimony of Anthony Bernal after he reneged on an agreement to appear voluntarily. Bernal leads Biden's post-presidential transition office and is regarded by former first lady Jill Biden as her 'work husband.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jill Biden's 'work husband' runs for cover as privilege protection crumbles
Anthony Bernal, the former advisor to former first lady Jill Biden, is refusing to appear before the House Oversight Committee to be questioned about the alleged cover-up of former President Joe Biden's mental decline. Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said in a press release Tuesday that Bernal was refusing to appear on June 26 for a transcribed interview, as part of the committee's investigation into the Biden cover-up, and also the potentially unauthorized use of autopen for executive actions and pardons. "Now that the White House has waived executive privilege, it's abundantly clear that Anthony Bernal – Jill Biden's so-called 'work husband' – never intended to be transparent about Joe Biden's cognitive decline and the ensuing cover-up," Comer said. "With no privilege left to hide behind, Mr. Bernal is now running scared, desperate to bury the truth. The American people deserve answers and accountability, and the Oversight Committee will not tolerate this obstruction." The chairman added that if Bernal does not wish to come on his own, he will issue a subpoena to compel Bernal to provide testimony before the committee. House Republicans Inch Closer To Answers As Former Biden Advisors Lose Executive Privilege Shield Letters obtained by Fox News Digital from a source familiar with the matter show the Trump administration will not allow the people of interest in Comer's probe to use their past White House work as a legal shield. Read On The Fox News App Deputy Counsel to the President Gary Lawkowski sent the letters to former Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain, former senior advisors Anita Dunn, Steve Ricchetti, Mike Donilon, Annie Tomasini, Bruce Reed, Ashley Williams and Bernal. "In light of the unique and extraordinary nature of the matters under investigation, President Trump has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the national interest, and therefore is not justified, with respect to particular subjects within the purview of the House Oversight Committee," the letters said. "Those subjects include your assessment of former President Biden's fitness for the office of the President and your knowledge of who exercised executive powers during his administration." Top Biden Officials Summoned To Testify About Alleged Cover-up Of Former President's Mental Fitness Congressional Republicans and the White House are investigating whether the senior Biden aides in question played any role in keeping concerns about the former president's mental acuity shielded from the public eye and even from lower-level White House staffers. "Just yesterday, we heard from our first witness, Neera Tanden, the former Staff Secretary who controlled the Biden autopen," Comer said Wednesday. "Ms. Tanden testified that she had minimal interaction with President Biden, despite wielding tremendous authority. She explained that to obtain approval for autopen signatures, she would send decision memos to members of the President's inner circle and had no visibility of what occurred between sending the memo and receiving it back with approval. "Her testimony raises serious questions about who was really calling the shots in the Biden White House amid the President's obvious decline," Comer continued. "We will continue to pursue the truth for the American people." House Gop Secures Four Key Witnesses In Biden Mental-decline Probe As Former Aides Agree To Talk Bernal's team previously confirmed he would appear for a transcribed interview on June 26, 2025, according to Comer's office. But yesterday, the White House counsel's office notified Bernal that it was waiving executive privilege regarding the Oversight Committee's investigation. Bernal's legal team then told the committee he would no longer appear for the interview. Comer's team said in the press release that during the last Congress, the chairman subpoenaed three key White House aides, including Bernal, who allegedly ran interference for Biden to cover up his decline. Despite the subpoenas, the White House under Biden allegedly obstructed the committee's investigation by refusing to make the aides available for interviews or depositions. Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this article source: Jill Biden's 'work husband' runs for cover as privilege protection crumbles
Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Joe Biden 'cognitive decline' case: Jill Biden's top aide backs out of interview with probe committee; panel head lashes out
Jill and Joe Biden Anthony Bernal, the top aide to former US first lady Jill Biden , abruptly withdrew from his scheduled interview with the House Oversight Committee which is probing the alleged cognitive decline as US president of her spouse, Joe Biden. Bernal's refusal to appear - his interview was scheduled for Thursday - was condemned by Oversight chairman James Comer of US President Donald Trump's Republican Party. Earlier this month, Trump ordered an investigation into the "decline" in Biden's mental fitness. ' Now that the White House has waived executive privilege, it's abundantly clear that Anthony Bernal – Jill Biden's so-called 'work husband' – never intended to be transparent about Joe Biden's cognitive decline and the ensuing cover-up,. With no privilege left to hide behind, Mr. Bernal is now running scared, desperate to bury the truth. The American people deserve answers and accountability, and the Oversight Committee will not tolerate this obstruction," Comer said in an Oversight Committee statement, adding that he will issue a subpoena (summons) to compel Bernal to appear before the panel. James Comer post The statement also noted that following the White House's decision, Bernal's legal team informed the committee would not appear for the interview, having previously confirmed he would. He is among nine former Joe Biden staffers whose executive privilege was revoked by the White House - this means that they will have to answer the Oversight panel's questions about their private conversations with Biden, unless they or the Democrat himself try to challenge the decision in court. However, people close to Bernal said he has only requested that his testimony be rescheduled. "Calling this a 'refusal' is misleading, when there was simply a request to reschedule the interview," they told US website Axios.
Wall Street Journal
6 days ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Biden Aide Avoids Testimony
Biden administration officials still aren't eager to talk about Joe Biden's cognitive challenges while he was formally serving as our president. But Americans deserve to know who was running the U.S. Government prior to Jan. 20, 2025. Now the House Oversight Committee reports that the person running President Biden's autopen typically didn't receive signature orders directly from Mr. Biden. The committee also reports that a key witness abruptly cancelled a scheduled interview. Today the Oversight committee reports:
