A former senior Biden White House official has faced a grilling from congressional investigators as part of the probe into the cover-up of the former president’s diminished mental state.
Ashley Williams, who served as deputy director of Oval Office Operations, appeared before the House Oversight Committee Friday.
Williams was called to the hearing as part of an escalating Republican investigation into whether top aides concealed former President Joe Biden’s deteriorating cognitive condition while in office.
She met behind closed doors with investigators for a transcribed interview around 11 a.m. Friday.
Williams did not speak to reporters on her way into the secure meeting room.
Her testimony marks the third time a high-level former Biden aide has been questioned by Oversight Committee investigators in recent weeks.
It comes as Republicans zero in on internal White House concerns over the 46th president’s fitness to serve.
Concerns about Biden’s health exploded into the national spotlight following Biden’s widely panned June 2024 debate performance.
House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) is also probing whether presidential orders were authorized via autopen without Biden’s full awareness or consent.
It is raising new questions about who was truly in charge in the Oval Office during the latter half of Biden’s term.
Williams was originally summoned by the committee in July 2024.
However, she did not testify at the time after the Biden White House called the inquiry a “baseless political stunt,” according to NBC News.
Her appearance now underscores the pressure mounting on Biden insiders to answer for the administration’s handling of the former president’s public and private behavior.
The investigation comes amid growing evidence that aides may have concealed or downplayed signs of Biden’s mental and physical decline.
Recent media reports and insider accounts have detailed behind-the-scenes panic following Biden’s disastrous 2024 debate.
Following the televised debate, even liberal allies began questioning his capacity to continue campaigning.
Just two days before Williams’ testimony, Biden’s former White House physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, appeared before the committee in a separate closed-door session.
O’Connor invoked the Fifth Amendment on all questions except for confirming his name.
Republicans argue that the move by O’Connor is further proof of a cover-up.
“It’s clear there was a conspiracy to cover up President Biden’s cognitive decline,” Comer said in a statement after O’Connor’s appearance.
“Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician and family business associate, refused to answer any questions and chose to hide behind the Fifth Amendment.”
“Dr. O’Connor took the Fifth when asked if he was told to lie about President Biden’s health and whether he was fit to be President of the United States,” Comer added.
“Congress must assess legislative solutions to prevent such a cover-up from happening again.
“We will continue to interview more Biden White House aides to get the answers Americans deserve.”
O’Connor’s legal team argued that the doctor’s silence was meant to protect medical confidentiality, claiming the committee gave no indication it would respect doctor-patient privilege.
“Revealing confidential patient information would violate the most fundamental ethical duty of a physician,” O’Connor’s attorneys stated.
“Dr. O’Connor will not violate his oath of confidentiality to any of his patients, including President Biden.”
The Oversight Committee is expected to interview more former Biden aides in the weeks ahead as the investigation presses on into what Republicans describe as an unprecedented breach of public trust and transparency at the highest levels of government.
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