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Former White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients is on Capitol Hill Thursday because the House Oversight Committee’s probe into former President Joe Biden’s psychological acuity attracts to an in depth.
He mentioned nothing to reporters on his approach into his closed-door voluntary interview. It’s anticipated to final from about 10 a.m. into the afternoon.
Zients is the final former Biden official anticipated to be interviewed by the committee, which can be wanting into whether or not the then-president was absolutely conscious of clemency orders and different government actions signed by autopen throughout the latter half of his time period.
Zients’ feedback might be of explicit curiosity to House investigators, given his senior function within the Biden White House for many of these remaining two years in workplace.
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President Joe Biden delivers remarks throughout an occasion to welcome his new chief of workers, Jeffrey Zients, within the East Room of the White House on Feb. 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Before that, he served as counselor to the president and White House COVID-19 response coordinator from Biden’s swearing-in in January 2021 till April 2022.
Perhaps most crucial to the committee is Zients’ reported key function within the chain of command for Biden’s autopen pardons.
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It’s not unusual for presidents to make use of an autopen to signal paperwork, and it has been utilized by leaders on either side of the aisle.
However, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., is questioning whether or not Biden was actually handing down these selections, given public issues about his psychological and bodily acuity that arose towards the top of his time period.
House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer is main a probe into autopen use by President Joe Biden. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The New York Times reported that Zients would have been among the many prime aides relaying Biden’s clemency selections to assistants, who then drafted these orders earlier than they had been circulated again to Biden’s senior officers after which later given remaining approval.
In that very same report, Biden mentioned he made each clemency determination on his personal.
Axios reported earlier this month that Zients signed off on pardons granted to 5 of Biden’s members of the family lower than 24 hours earlier than he left workplace.
The former president’s allies have pushed again on the Republican-led House Oversight probe, nonetheless, denouncing the investigation as politically motivated.
Zients is the ultimate ex-Biden official at present slated to seem earlier than the House Oversight Committee. (Fox News)
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“You managed a White House in disarray after public reporting started to deal with the obvious decline of President Biden’s psychological capabilities. You reportedly known as an all-staff name in July 2024 ‘through which [you] urged President Biden’s group to unite and transfer ahead from Biden’s horrible debate efficiency[.],’” Comer wrote in a June letter to Zients.
“The scope of your tasks — each official and in any other case — and private interactions throughout the Oval Office can’t go with out investigation. If White House workers carried out a method lasting months and even years to cover the chief government’s situation — or to carry out his duties — Congress might have to think about a legislative response.”
