Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Eric Schmidt (R-Mo.) have alleged that Biden administration officials and Congressional Democrats have engaged in a significant “cover-up” to obscure what they describe as President Biden’s notable cognitive decline over the past two years.
Cornyn stated, “There was a conspiracy to conceal the true state of the president from his family, staff, the media, and elected officials. This situation represents a larger constitutional crisis than just President Biden or a single election and isn’t something that can simply be resolved with an apology at a press conference.”
During a hearing mostly attended by Republicans—many Democrats boycotted—Cornyn and Schmidt made their assertions regarding the former president and his associates.
Cornyn emphasized the need to investigate who was managing the executive branch during Biden’s last months in office, citing challenges posed by job responsibilities and reelection campaigns.
“We really need clarity on who was leading in the final months of Biden’s administration. Was it his wife, his chief of staff, or others? These individuals weren’t elected by the public and lacked constitutional authority to perform presidential duties,” he noted.
Schmidt declared that, in his view, Biden is “mentally unfit to handle the responsibilities of the most powerful office in the world.” He stated, “Given his mental state, Americans deserve to know who has actually been running the country for the past four years.”
He expressed disappointment that most Democrats on the panel opted to “boycott” the meeting and did not call any witnesses to provide testimony.
Schmidt also asserted that Biden’s decline “didn’t just begin suddenly in June 2024” during a contentious debate against Trump. “It has been an evident truth for anyone willing to acknowledge it over the years,” he argued.
The Republicans invited former Trump White House press secretary Shaun Spicer, along with University of Virginia Law School Professor John Harrison and Heritage Foundation Fellow Theodore Wald, to testify during the hearing.
They spoke briefly before Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, criticized his GOP counterparts for neglecting oversight hearings regarding the Trump administration and for failing to address the recent detention of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) during a press conference related to Sen. Kristi Noem’s deployment or Trump’s Active Duty Marines amidst protests in Los Angeles.
Durbin asserted, “Up until now, the Republican majority in this committee has not held a single oversight hearing, despite the many significant challenges facing our country.” Instead, he accused Biden of engaging in “armchair diagnoses.”
