Now Reading: Zohran Mamdani rallies supporters after Andrew Cuomo concedes New York City mayoral primary
- 01
Zohran Mamdani rallies supporters after Andrew Cuomo concedes New York City mayoral primary
Zohran Mamdani rallies supporters after Andrew Cuomo concedes New York City mayoral primary
The White House counsel’s office informed Neera Tanden, a former aide to then-President Joe Biden, that her testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee will not be subject to executive privilege.
In a letter to Tanden, obtained by NBC News, Trump’s deputy counsel Gary Lawkowksi said that the “congressional need for information outweighs the executive branch’s need for maintaining confidentiality.” The reason, according to the White House, is that aides to Biden “concealed information regarding his fitness to exercise the powers of the President — and may have unconstitutionally exercised those powers themselves to aid in their concealment,” the letter states.
Given the “extraordinary circumstance,” the White House instructed Tanden to provide “unrestricted” testimony to the committee.
Tanden agreed to appear voluntarily before the GOP-led Oversight Committee today for a transcribed interview.
In a copy of Tanden’s prepared opening statement to the committee, obtained by NBC News, she attempts to prebut expected lines of inquiry from House Republicans. Tanden was prepared to tell the committee that she was in charge of the process that decided which documents were signed with autopen, versus the ones signed by the Biden himself.
“As Staff Secretary, I was responsible for handling the flow of documents to and from the President. I was also authorized to direct that autopen signatures be affixed to certain categories of documents,” Tanden was set to testify. “We had a system for authorizing the use of the autopen that I inherited from prior Administrations.”
She also planned to make clear that Biden was the final decision-maker.
“I had no experience in the White House that would provide any reason to question his command as President,” Tanden planned to say. “He was in charge.”
According to two sources familiar with her testimony, Tanden did not plan to exert executive privilege and her counsel stated this at the top of her interview today.
In addition to Tanden, the committee has scheduled transcribed interviews with former Biden White House aides Anthony Bernal, Ashley Williams and Annie Tomasini.
Meanwhile, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the former White House physician, will appear for a deposition before the panel on July 9 after he was issued a subpoena.
Republicans are probing Biden’s mental fitness while in office and his use of a so-called autopen to sign official acts. Biden maintains he made all decisions about legislation, pardons and executive orders, and the Department of Justice’s office of legal counsel issued a memo in 2005 that concluded that the autopen practice was legal.
A federal appeals court ruled as recently as 2024 that “the absence of a writing does not equate to proof that a commutation did not occur,” when it relates to the use of a presidential autopen.
