A former top White House advisor is appearing before House Oversight Committee investigators on Friday as GOP lawmakers probe whether ex-President Joe Biden's top aides covered up evidence of his mental and physical decline.
Ashley Williams, who served as deputy director of Oval Office Operations during the Biden administration, is sitting with investigators behind closed doors for a transcribed interview around 11 a.m. Friday.
She said nothing to reporters on the way into the meeting room, which is now closed to all except Williams, her lawyers, and members of the House Oversight Committee and their staffs.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, made her second surprise appearance in the committee meeting room this week. She declined to speak to reporters on the way inside, stating she was running late.
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Crockett was the only lawmaker seen arriving at the interview, which is expected to be staff-led.
Williams is the third member of the former president's White House inner circle to meet with committee staffers in Comer's probe in recent weeks.
In addition to whether senior aides covered up Biden's alleged decline, Comer is looking at whether any presidential orders were signed via autopen without the former commander-in-chief's knowledge.
Any allegations of wrongdoing so far have been denied by the ex-president's allies.
But Republican investigators have pointed to Biden's disastrous June 2024 debate and subsequent revelations in the media that there were more concerns from Biden's inner circle about his fitness for office than previously known.
Williams was one of three then-Biden aides called before Comer's House Oversight Committee in July 2024 to discuss the former president's mental state, but the White House at the time called it a "baseless political stunt" to NBC News.
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Her appearance on Friday comes two days after ex-Biden White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor briefly sat down with investigators on Wednesday.
O'Connor's encounter with the committee lasted roughly 30 minutes, with the doctor invoking the Fifth Amendment for all questions except his name.
"It's clear there was a conspiracy to cover up President Biden's cognitive decline after Dr. Kevin O'Connor, Biden's physician and family business associate, refused to answer any questions and chose to hide behind the Fifth Amendment," Comer said in a statement after O'Connor's appearance.
"Dr. O'Connor took the Fifth when asked if he was told to lie about President Biden's health and whether he was fit to be President of the United States. Congress must assess legislative solutions to prevent such a cover up from happening again. We will continue to interview more Biden White House aides to get the answers Americans deserve."
O'Connor's lawyers said he did so out of concerns that House investigators would violate doctor-patient privilege.
"This Committee has indicated to Dr. O'Connor and his attorneys that it does not intend to honor one of the most well-known privileges in our law - the physician patient privilege. Instead, the Committee has indicated that it will demand that Dr. O'Connor reveal, without any limitations, confidential information regarding his medical examinations, treatment, and care of President Biden," the attorney statement said.
"Revealing confidential patient information would violate the most fundamental ethical duty of a physician, could result in revocation of Dr. O'Connor's medical license, and would subject Dr. O'Connor to potential civil liability. Dr. O'Connor will not violate his oath of confidentiality to any of his patients, including President Biden."
