Karine Jean‑Pierre, who served as White House press secretary from 2022 to 2025, testified before the House Oversight Committee on Friday as the panel probes President Joe Biden’s mental acuity and the administration’s use of an autopen signature device.
Jean‑Pierre is the 13th former Biden official to appear before the committee this year as Republicans investigate whether aides sought to conceal a decline in the president’s cognitive abilities and whether the autopen was used to sign documents, pardons and other materials without Biden’s explicit authorization.
The committee has issued subpoenas to senior administration figures, including Biden’s former physician, Kevin O’Connor, and has already reviewed emails in which former officials expressed concern about how the autopen was being used. The Biden administration has acknowledged the autopen was used thousands of times during the president’s term, and Republican members of the committee have sought records and testimony about whether some final‑term pardons and other actions were approved without the president’s direct knowledge.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R‑Ky., said Friday that recent emails show the Justice Department under then‑Attorney General Merrick Garland had raised concerns about autopen use. "What we've seen with the emails that have surfaced in the last week, even the [former Attorney General] Merrick Garland Department of Justice was very concerned about how this administration was using the autopen," Comer told reporters.
Jean‑Pierre arrived at a congressional office building on Friday morning and declined to answer reporters' questions. Her interview with investigators was expected to continue into the afternoon.
During her tenure at the White House, Jean‑Pierre frequently pushed back against questions about Biden’s mental fitness. In a July 3, 2024, briefing she told reporters that the then‑81‑year‑old was "sharp as ever" and described her private interactions with him as showing he was "engaged, strong and resolute." Those public defenses intensified after Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on the handling of classified documents, which described Biden as having a "poor memory" and diminished capacity in some respects. Jean‑Pierre called that portion of Hur’s report "gratuitous" and said it "does not live in reality."
Republican scrutiny of Biden’s cognitive state increased after videos circulated in mid‑2024 showing the president appearing confused in public settings; the White House and Jean‑Pierre at times characterized some of the footage as deceptively edited, referring to it as "cheap fakes."
The Oversight Committee has said it is examining internal communications, signatures and processes to determine whether the autopen was used appropriately and with proper safeguards. Committee Republicans have focused on end‑of‑term pardons and last‑minute decisions, seeking to establish whether any were prepared or authorized without the president’s knowledge. Democrats on the panel and White House allies have criticized the probe as politically motivated.
Jean‑Pierre’s testimony comes after she announced this year that she had left the Democratic Party to register as an independent and disclosed a forthcoming book, "Independent: A look inside a broken White House, outside the party lines," due Oct. 21. Her departure and book announcement drew criticism from some former colleagues, who questioned the timing and motives of the move.
The committee has issued subpoenas and compelled testimony from a range of former Biden officials as it compiles documents and interviews related to both the autopen and broader questions about how the president’s tasks were delegated. Investigators have pointed to emails and internal discussion that they say warrant further inquiry, while former administration officials have defended their actions and procedures.
Jean‑Pierre is among several former aides who will be asked to describe daily interactions with Biden, the mechanics by which official documents were signed, and what oversight or approvals were in place. The committee has not released a timetable for additional testimony or whether its investigators will seek to compel further records from the White House or other agencies.
The Oversight Committee’s inquiry remains active, with Republicans signaling they will continue to press former officials for testimony and internal records, and Democrats disputing the premises of the probe. Jean‑Pierre’s appearance adds to a growing public record of how the Biden White House managed communications about the president’s health and the practicalities of executing presidential functions during the administration's final years.