MxM News

Quick Hit:

Republican leaders are intensifying scrutiny over former President Joe Biden’s use of the autopen and his mental fitness during his presidency. A new House investigation and calls for Senate hearings aim to determine whether Biden was actually making executive decisions or if unelected aides acted in his place. This renewed focus follows revelations about Biden’s mental decline and increasing evidence that raises constitutional concerns about the legitimacy of actions taken in his name.

Key Details:

• House Oversight Committee plans to subpoena key Biden aides over autopen use.

• GOP Senators push for hearings into Biden’s competency and health.

• Reports and firsthand accounts depict Biden as detached and cognitively impaired during key presidential decisions.

Diving Deeper:

Liz Peek, a former Wall Street partner and opinion contributor for The Hill, has raised sharp questions about the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s presidency in a recent column titled “Who Was Really Running the Country While Biden Was President?” Peek lays out a compelling case that Biden may not have been in control of the executive branch, citing growing GOP efforts to investigate the use of the autopen and Biden’s apparent cognitive decline.

House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) announced his committee would investigate the use of autopen signatures on major executive actions—including what Peek calls “broad (and possibly unconstitutional) pardons for family members, members of the January 6 Committee, and Anthony Fauci.” Comer said he intends to subpoena Biden aides Annie Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, and Ashley Williams, alleging they may have “run interference” for the president and overseen the use of the autopen.

Meanwhile, Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is calling for Senate hearings on Biden’s health and decision-making capacity. “We have to. I mean, who was running the government?” Johnson told Axios. His concerns are echoed by newly revealed audio from Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with Biden, which exposes a man who is more than just forgetful. Hur described Biden as “an elderly man with a poor memory,” but Peek contends the audio reveals “a person who has experienced serious mental decline.”

Peek references the book Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, which documents how Biden’s aides went to “extreme measures” to conceal his decline. Peek asserts: “It’s become increasingly clear that it was not Biden” who was calling the shots between 2021 and 2024.

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s personal meeting with Biden in February 2024 may have been the most telling. Johnson recounted how Biden flatly denied having issued a recent pause on liquefied natural gas exports—a pause he himself had signed via executive order. “I didn’t do that,” Biden told Johnson, who left the meeting “shaken” and later said, “We are in serious trouble — who is running the country? Like, I don’t know who put the paper in front of him, but he didn’t know.”

Another alarming anecdote comes from then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who noted that Biden often “mumbled” and clung to note cards during debt ceiling negotiations. “He’s not the same person,” McCarthy said, recalling his earlier meetings with Biden as vice president.

The core constitutional concern, as outlined by the Oversight Project, formerly part of the Heritage Foundation, is straightforward: “The Constitution vests the power of pardon in one person and one person only — the President of the United States.” If Biden did not personally issue pardons and other orders, their legal standing may be on shaky ground.

Questions remain about who within the White House truly wielded power. Peek points to longtime advisers like Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn, but adds, “We just don’t know.” She warns this is “not just a fishing expedition,” asserting that “Congress could challenge the legality of measures adopted by presidential aides or officials, rather than the country’s chief executive.”

Liz Peek closes with a strong statement on the stakes: “These challenges to the Biden legacy are just beginning. And it’s about time.”

MxM News

Quick Hit:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a sweeping review of the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, with a focus on the 2021 Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members.

Key Details:

• Hegseth’s order targets failures tied to the deadly Abbey Gate bombing during the rushed August 2021 withdrawal.
• Sean Parnell, a combat veteran, will lead the review panel, tasked with examining previous investigations and holding leaders accountable.
• The move underscores the Trump administration’s pledge for transparency and justice for the families of fallen troops.

Diving Deeper:

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday ordered a “comprehensive review” of the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, calling for accountability in the wake of a terrorist bombing at Kabul’s airport that left 13 American service members dead.

Hegseth said the Pentagon had already conducted an initial review of the withdrawal but concluded a deeper investigation was necessary to honor those lost and to expose the failures that led to their deaths.

“Over the last three months, the Department has been engaged in a review of this catastrophic event in our military’s history,” Hegseth said in a letter published Tuesday. “I have concluded that we need to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people.”

The withdrawal, which former President Joe Biden initially branded a “responsible exit,” turned chaotic when the Taliban surged through Afghanistan in the summer of 2021. Biden defied the Trump-era May 1 withdrawal deadline, instead attempting to keep troops in the country through September 11. The Taliban responded with over 22,000 attacks in four months, eventually overrunning the Afghan military and taking Kabul without resistance on August 15.

Just eleven days later, a suicide bomber affiliated with ISIS detonated an explosive at Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport. The explosion killed an estimated 170 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. troops — the deadliest single day for American forces in Afghanistan in a decade. Despite prior warnings of threats near the airport, no action was taken to secure the area, and no U.S. officials have been held responsible.

Hegseth has tapped Sean Parnell, former Army captain and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, to lead the panel reviewing prior investigations and identifying breakdowns in leadership and intelligence. Parnell, who served 485 days in Afghanistan and was wounded in combat, brings personal experience and resolve to the role.

“This team will ensure ACCOUNTABILITY to the American people and the warfighters of our great Nation,” Hegseth emphasized.

The Trump administration, which negotiated the original withdrawal deal with the Taliban, has remained committed to uncovering the truth behind the Abbey Gate bombing. In March, U.S. agents captured “Jafar,” the alleged mastermind behind the attack. According to Dr. Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s former counterterrorism adviser, Jafar confessed to orchestrating over 20 attacks that killed more than 1,000 people.

At the 2024 Republican National Convention, Trump spotlighted the grieving families of those killed in Kabul. Christy Shamblin, relative of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, praised Trump for his compassion and commitment. “Donald Trump knew all of our children’s names… He allowed us to grieve,” she said.

Hegseth, who raised the issue during his confirmation hearing, closed his statement with a direct rebuke of past leadership. “There has been no accountability for the disaster of the withdrawal in Afghanistan, and that’s precisely why we’re here today.”

“Pete Hegseth” by Gage Skidmore licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED.