Biden Gatekeeper Ricchetti defends the former president in deposition to the house

Steve Ricchetti was the guardian of former president Biden.

But republican investigators in the Chamber hoped that Ricchetti was the key to unlocking responses to Mr. Biden’s cognitive state when he was commander -in -chief.

The Chamber’s supervisory committee recently summoned Ricchetti for a closed -door test. Ricchetti worked for President Clinton, was Biden’s best assistant when he was vice-president and was a key advisor to Biden’s White House. He frequently visited Capitol Hill while President Biden and the Congress Republicans negotiated a debt ceiling pact in the spring of 2023.

“What is your message to the committee today?” Yours really asked Ricchetti when he materialized on the third floor of the office of the office of the house Rayburn for a voluntary and transcribed interrogation.

“I’m not going to say anything on the way. I’m just going to enter and give an interview,” replied Ricchetti.

“Was the president in place for the position?” I asked.

“Of course, it was,” replied Ricchetti. “Of course, it was.”

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The former advisor to President Steve Ricchetti met in investigators from the room on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

In a statement, Ricchetti conceded that former president Biden “stroke occasionally”. But he argued that the former president was able to the post. Ricchetti added that no one “usurped the constitutional duties of President Biden”.

In their investigation, the Republicans have specific questions on the use by the former president of the Autopen and on the legal documents bearing the signing of Mr. Biden.

“Who signed one of these documents and who directed the White House?” asked the representative Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., On Fox. “It is the largest and probably strange scandal in American history because Woodrow Wilson’s wife headed the White House.”

This refers to the first lady Edith Wilson. Historians generally believe that it has taken care of the daily executive functions after President Woodrow Wilson underwent a stroke.

“Everything that had the strength of (the law) signed by Autopen should be zero and not avenue,” said representative Pat Fallon, R-Texas, on Fox’s affairs.

Unlike Ricchetti, three other Biden characters lowered questions when they were summoned for closed -door interviews. The supervisory committee has published assignments for the former assistant of the Biden Annie Tomasini administration, the former help Jill Biden Anthony Bernal and the former doctor of the President, the White House doctor, Kevin O’Connor. The three invoked the fifth amendment during their sessions before the chamber’s supervisory committee, refusing to answer questions.

The automatic use of Biden interviewed in the middle of the published audio of a special lawy lawy interview

Former President Joe Biden talks to journalists from the South Pelouse of the White House on Monday, September 2, 2024, in Washington, after his return from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. (AP photo / Mark Schiefelbein)

“I think the real witness is the doctor. And unfortunately, he took the fifth,” said Senator Roger Marshall, R-Kan.

Marshall himself is an ob-gyn.

“A doctor certainly has an ethical obligation to protect (a patient) for privacy. But the needs of the country – the question of national security, legal problems – also prevail over this relationship,” said Marshall.

Democrats argue that the Republicans are unleashed in their investigation by the former president. Senator Peter Welch, D-VT., Believes that the GOP should focus on the economy and accessibility problems.

“Message to the republicans of the house,” said Welch. “You have won the elections. I mean, I’m not sure why they want to waste time on this.”

“He is not the president,” said senator John Fetterman, D-Penn., For former president Biden. “I think we should really move (turn on).”

Fetterman himself faced questions about his health after undergoing a stroke during his campaign in 2022 and hospitalization for depression after taking office as a senator in 2023.

But the Republicans argue that the Biden survey is essential. The medical state of former president Biden is not clear, although the public saw his performance in the debate last June. The Republicans insist that their investigation is to determine what to do if a future president is cognitively struggling.

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Steve Ricchetti is the last former assistant to the Biden administration to appear before the investigators of the Chamber. (Getty Images)

“What we are doing today is defining a kind of model for the future,” said senator Lindsey Graham, Rs.c. “How can we improve it? Because he is a Democratic president today. He is perhaps a republican president tomorrow.”

It is not only a challenge for the presidency. But for legislators too. In recent years, Capitol Hill has experienced uncomfortable and regular declines at the end of the senses. Strom Thurmond, Rs.C., Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., And representative Kay Granger, R-Tex.

“I hope we all make the right decision when it is appropriate,” said Welch. “And we have people around us to do the right thing.”

Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., Is one of the most conservative and politically pragmatic democrats in the Chamber. She represents a president of the district that Trump carried three times. And even if meaning. Patty Muray, D-Wash., And Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Win regularly throughout the state, they fail to wear the Gluesenkamp Perez district. Gluesenkamp Perez beat the candidate of the GOP Joe Kent – for the second time – by four points in 2024.

Gluesenkamp Perez 36 years old introduced a plan requiring cognitive standards for people to serve in the house.

The Chamber’s credit committee rejected its amendment at the end of last month.

However, there are constitutional and legal problems concerning the imposition of a cognitive examination to the potential of legislators.

The article, I, section 5 of the Constitution indicates that the Chamber and the Senate “can determine the rules of its procedure”. It is therefore possible that the Chamber or the Senate can impose a “rule” dictating a test. The same part of the Constitution indicates that each body can judge “the qualifications of its own members”.

Inside the Biden concealment probe: 8 aid interviewed, more on the way

President Joe Biden has seen a campaign rally in Washington, DC, the president was questioned as part of an investigation into his processing of documents classified by the special council Robert Hur. (SOMODEVILLA / GETTY Images)

But imposing an additional provision for the eligibility to be served could be extra-constitutional. For example, article I, section 2 of the Constitution indicates that the members of the Chamber must be at least 25 years old, have been citizens for seven years and reside in the state from which they were elected. A senator must be 30 years old, a citizen for nine years and live in the state they represent. However, making another extra mandate is a problem.

This is why the Supreme Court noted that the limits of the mandate were unconstitutional. An additional “rule” – like the duration of the duration – introduces an additional qualification not described in the Constitution. This is why the Supreme Court ruled against the proposals for mandates. It is likely that the high courtyard would follow the step with additional stipulations to serve at Congress.

In addition, the installation of an acuity diploma maintains the potential to defeat the will of voters.

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The late representative Adam Clayton Powell, DN.Y., was faced with ethical problems in the late 1960s. Voters re -elected Powell in 1966. But the Chamber refused to siege. Powell continued. In Powell c. McCormick, the Supreme Court concluded that the room was not allowed to exclude Powell. The High Court argued that the refusal of the Powell headquarters was not constitutional because it placed additional conditions at its service at the Congress.

There is no easy solution on how to manage an altered president or legislator. It is often said that Congress simply reflects the rest of the country. There are cognitive decreased people who serve in all areas of life in the United States and it is also a reality for those of the government.