House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Wednesday he was “open” to dragging former President Joe Biden before the panel as part of his probe into the 82-year-old’s cognitive state and use of an autopen.
Despite not ruling the possibility out, Comer (R-Ky.) wondered during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” whether it would “even be worthwhile” to bring the 46th president before the powerful investigative committees.
“We’re going to see who was giving the directive to sign these,” Comer said. “If everyone says it was Joe Biden, then I’m certainly open to bring him in.”
Last week, Comer’s team blasted out letters to five confidants of the former president — including ex-White House doctor Kevin O’Connor — demanding interviews for an investigation into Biden’s mental and physical decline. All five have since made initial contact with the panel.
No former president has given sworn testimony before Congress since Gerald Ford in 1983. The since-defunct House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot subpoenaed President Trump for testimony in 2022, but he declined to appear.
“Look, I would love to ask Joe Biden a lot of questions, but right now, we’re starting with the staffers who were operating the autopen,” Comer went on. “We’re going to bring the physician, Dr. O’Connor, in because he definitely was not telling the truth about Joe Biden’s health.”
The chairman added that Republicans will be assisted by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), a former White House doctor who held the role during the Obama and first Trump administrations.
Comer also hinted that Republicans could pursue ex-first son Hunter Biden, former first lady Jill Biden and former White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
The probe comes amid rekindled uproar over Biden’s mental acuity and fitness for office following the release of the book “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” and the 46th president’s May 18 announcement that he had prostate cancer that spread to his bones.
