A powerful US House of Representatives committee has decided to have former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and three other former senior White House officials appear before Congress for investigation.
This action comes as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of a cover-up of former President Joe Biden's apparent mental decline, according to Fox News.
Investigation of Biden aides
Republican Representative James Comer, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sought to uncover the identities of decision-makers within Biden's inner circle during what he described as the former president's "apparent mental decline."
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Comer sent letters on Friday to Jean-Pierre, former White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, former deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, and former special assistant to the president Ian Sams. These letters asked them to appear for recorded interviews with the oversight committee.
The committee's investigation focused on allegations that senior White House officials attempted to cover up Biden's deterioration, possibly issuing an unauthorized blanket pardon, and taking other executive actions, usurping Biden's presidential authority, according to the report.
Who Makes the Crucial Decisions
Comer stated in his letters that the committee believes Biden's four senior staff members possess "crucial" information about "who made key decisions and exercised executive authority during the previous administration, possibly without the approval of former President Biden."
The letter to Jean-Pierre noted that as White House press secretary and one of Biden's most senior confidantes, she "was not only in close proximity to the President on a daily basis, but also alongside the President's most senior confidantes."
Comer wrote, "Your assertions, on numerous occasions, that President Biden's declining performance was due to tactics such as cheap fabrication or media disinformation cannot go unexamined."
He added, "If White House staffers have implemented a months-long or even years-long strategy to conceal the chief executive's condition—or to perform his duties—Congress may need to consider a legislative response."
Comer scheduled the interviews for late August and early September and gave the four officials until July 4 to confirm their voluntary compliance. If they failed to comply, the committee threatened to "subpoena you to testify."
Congressional Subpoenas
Jean-Pierre, Zients, Bates, and Sams are the latest former senior Biden administration officials to receive congressional subpoenas from Comer as part of the Oversight Committee's investigation into alleged cover-up.
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The committee chairman also issued subpoenas for Dr. Kevin O'Connor, Biden's physician, and Anthony Bernal, a former assistant to the president and senior advisor to the first lady, after they refused to appear before the committee voluntarily, according to the report.
In a statement to Fox News, Comer said, "As part of our extensive investigation into the cover-up of his cognitive decline and potential unauthorized executive actions, we must hear from those who aided and abetted this farce."
He added, "President Biden's inner circle repeatedly assured the American people that he was in the prime of his life, dismissing any comment about his apparent mental decline as unjustified. They fed these false arguments to progressive allies and the media, who helped perpetuate the notion that President Biden was fit for office."
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