A former top advisor to Joe Biden forcefully pushed back on the GOP-led House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the former president’s cognitive decline and possible efforts to cover it up, calling the probe an “unprecedented effort” to intimidate the prior administration.
In a statement delivered to the committee as part of his closed-door testimony Wednesday, former Biden counselor Steve Ricchetti said he was cooperating with the inquiry “because I believe it is important to forcefully rebut this false narrative about the Biden presidency and our role in it.”
“There was no nefarious conspiracy of any kind among the president’s senior staff, and there was certainly no conspiracy to hide the president’s mental condition from the American people,” Ricchetti said in the statement obtained by CNN.
Ricchetti, who sat voluntarily for the interview, is the first of two Biden White House aides scheduled to appear this week as part of the committee’s investigation. Former senior Biden advisor Mike Donilon is set to appear Thursday, and the committee is expected to hold more voluntary interviews in the coming weeks, including with former deputy chief of staff for policy Bruce Reed on Tuesday and former senior adviser to the president for communications Anita Dunn next Thursday.
In his opening statement, Ricchetti said he did not have any concerns that Biden couldn’t do the job.
“At all times during his presidency, I believed that President Biden was fully capable of exercising his Presidential duties and responsibilities, and that he did so. Neither I, nor anyone else, usurped President Biden’s constitutional duties, which he faithfully and fully carried out each and every day,” Richetti said.
Addressing allegations that Biden staffers were taking actions without Biden’s approval, Ricchetti said he was “not aware” of any efforts by members of the Biden White House to usurp the president’s authority and make decisions on his behalf.
“I am not aware of any effort to use the autopen on important documents without the President’s knowledge and consent. I am not aware of any effort to keep important information from the President. Senior White House staff kept the President fully informed so that he could provide direction and make all important decisions,” Ricchetti said.
Ricchetti acknowledged Biden stumbled at times, but dismissed the idea that was concerning. “Did he stumble? Occasionally. Make mistakes? Get up on the wrong side of the bed? He did – we all did,” he said.
A source familiar with the matter characterized Ricchetti’s interview as “combative and defensive.” The source added that an attorney for Ricchetti repeatedly interrupted and requested questions from the panel be rephrased.
The source said Ricchetti conceded that staff “all knew President Biden’s age was an issue and were dealing with it as a political matter.”
Richard Sauber, an attorney for Ricchetti, told CNN in a statement that Ricchetti “voluntarily testified today in the House Oversight Committee for more than seven hours and answered all of their questions.”
“He testified truthfully that at no time did he ever feel that President Biden was incapable of performing his constitutional duties. He also made clear that there was never a ‘conspiracy,’” Sauber said. “This entire effort by the Committee to further a false narrative about President Biden is a waste of taxpayer funds at a time when there are real issues to be addressed impacting the American people.”
Several Biden aides have declined to cooperate with the committee’s investigation and invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination after being subpoenaed to appear.
Earlier this month, three Biden aides – White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, former assistant to the president and senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal and former assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini, who previously served as director of Oval Office Operations – pleaded the fifth in the face of questions from the panel.
Invoking the Fifth Amendment is typically done to avoid answering specific questions, and though it can be perceived by the public as a way of avoiding accountability, the US Supreme Court has long regarded the right against self-incrimination as a venerable part of the Constitution.
A number of Biden aides have sat for voluntary interviews with the panel, including former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain.
During his interview, Klain told the committee that Hillary Clinton had expressed concerns to him in 2023 that Biden’s age was an issue the campaign hadn’t dealt with effectively, and that national security adviser Jake Sullivan told him in 2024 after the presidential debate that Biden wasn’t as effective as he once had been, a source familiar with the matter previously told CNN.
But like Ricchetti, Klain said that he believed Biden had the mental sharpness to serve as president and he saw no reason to doubt Biden’s mental acuity.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Jake Tapper and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.
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