What Did President Biden Know, and How Long Did He Remember It?

Debra Saunders on Aug 25, 2025

WASHINGTON -- What did the president know, and when did he know it? That used to be the eventual question for most administrations. When it comes to former President Joe Biden, however, the question is: Did the president know much of anything?

The GOP-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been trying to answer that question with a series of behind-closed-doors interviews with former Biden staffers. The transcripts aren't out yet, but after the interviews, Chairman James Comer has been happy to share his observations with the press corps.

Ian Sams, the Biden White House press guy who dealt with the sticky stuff, appeared before the committee Thursday. Afterward, Comer told reporters that his big takeaway from Sams' turn in the hot seat was the revelation that he spoke with Biden face-to-face only twice during the two-plus years he served in the Biden White House. There was also a virtual meeting and a phone call.

That was news because Sams was the guy responsible for jumping all over those who questioned Biden's mental acuity.

When former Special Counsel Robert Hur famously opined that Biden's mishandling of classified material would be difficult to use in court because a jury might hesitate to convict a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," Sams slammed the Hur report as "false" and inappropriately personal.

That, of course, was before Biden stumbled during the June 27, 2024, Biden-Trump debate so spectacularly that he had to get out of the race and announce that Vice President Kamala Harris would head the ticket.

Sams left the White House to work for the Harris campaign.

The takeaway from Sams' testimony, as filtered by Comer, is that a tight cabal of handlers successfully siloed Biden so completely that Biden barely spoke to one of his fiercest defenders.

"In fact, Robert Hur spent more time with Joe Biden than Ian Sams," Comer concluded.

Comer also offered that he interacted with Biden more than the former Biden spox.

And Sams never even flew on Air Force One with the former president.

That's so wrong. Even Comer flew on AF1 with Biden, he told reporters.

Three former Biden White House staffers -- senior adviser Annie Tomasini, Jill Biden top aide Anthony Bernal and Physician to the President Kevin O'Connor -- invoked their Fifth Amendment rights and declined to answer questions.

Nothing to see here.

Last month, Axios reported that top Biden whisperer Mike Donilon told committee staffers that he had negotiated a $4 million payday for running the Biden 2024 campaign, with the sweetener of a $4 million bonus if Biden won -- a revelation that pointed to the greed that greased a Biden candidacy and doomed the Democratic Party.

According to Comer, Sams didn't have much of a recollection of his face time with Biden. Which is strange because usually staffers who finally have a chance to talk with the big guy have a good story to tell about it. It seems a faulty memory is part of the Biden administration experience.

Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X.

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