Comer report says Biden’s automatic opening actions may be ‘void’, calls on Justice Department to act

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) conduct a “thorough” investigation into former President Joe Biden’s use of auto-open.

The committee’s Republican majority released a 100-page report Tuesday morning detailing the findings of its months-long investigation into the Biden White House, specifically whether those around him covered up signs of mental decline in the ex-president, and whether that alleged cover-up extended to executive actions signed through the automatic override without Biden’s knowledge.

“In the face of President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, White House aides – at the direction of the inner circle – hid the truth about the former President’s health and fitness for office,” the report said.

The report also details a “haphazard documentation process” for Biden’s pardons, which the committee said left room for doubt about whether the former president made those decisions himself.

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Then-President Joe Biden speaks at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, May 17, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“In the absence of sufficient contemporaneous documentation indicating that President Biden, whose cognitive functions are deteriorating, himself made a given executive decision, such decisions do not have the force of law and should be considered void,” the GOP report said.

“The Department of Justice should immediately conduct a review of all executive actions taken by President Biden between January 20, 2021 and January 19, 2025. Given the trends and findings detailed here, this review should particularly focus on all acts of clemency. However, it should also include all other types of executive actions.

In addition to concerns about who approved Biden’s executive actions, Comer spent part of the report expressing concerns about Hunter Biden’s role in the pardon process.

Fox News Digital previously reported that Biden’s former chief of staff, Jeff Zients, told investigators that Hunter Biden was in the room for some pardon discussions — particularly the controversial preemptive pardons the ex-president granted to his loved ones.

“It was toward the end,” says part of Zients’ transcript included in the report. “What comes to mind is the family discussions. But I don’t know, that doesn’t mean that was all. It was the pardons towards the end, the very end of the administration. And I think it was a few meetings, not a lot of meetings.”

Former President Joe Biden, left, and his son, Hunter Biden, stand side by side. (Getty Images)

Comer’s report states: “Zients testified that President Biden included his son, Hunter Biden, in the decision-making process and meetings regarding pardons. »

“This apparently included meeting to discuss pardons for five members of the Biden family, Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and members of Congress who served on the special subcommittee investigating the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol, as well as their staff,” the report said.

The oversight committee called a total of 14 witnesses over a three-month period, mostly made up of senior Biden administration aides, some of whom had known him for decades.

Despite nearly 47 hours of interviews and sworn depositions, Comer suggested he believed aides were covering for Biden even in the committee room.

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“Throughout the Committee’s investigation, Biden’s top White House aides presented a perspective on President Biden’s cognitive health that was completely disconnected from that of the American public,” the report said.

“None of the Committee’s 14 witnesses were willing to admit that they were concerned about President Biden’s cognitive decline. In fact, many witnesses could not recall having a single conversation about President Biden’s cognitive health with anyone inside or outside the White House.”

Comer spent a lot of time in his report criticizing former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor. O’Connor’s sworn testimony was one of the shortest in the investigation, with the doctor invoking the Fifth Amendment on all questions except his name.

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital alongside the report, Comer called on the DC Health Board of Medicine to investigate O’Connor — and potentially ban him from practicing medicine.

The GOP report called O’Connor’s alleged decision not to conduct a cognitive exam with Biden during his four-year term “reckless” and accused him of making “grossly misleading medical evaluations.”

“His refusal to answer questions about serving as a physician to the President – ​​combined with testimony indicating that Dr. O’Connor may have succumbed to political pressure from his inner circle, influencing his medical decisions and contributing to the cover-up – legitimizes public concerns that Dr. O’Connor was not honest in carrying out his ultimate duties to the country,” the report said.

“The Committee recommends that the District of Columbia Board of Medicine review actions taken by Dr. O’Connor while serving as White House physician to President Biden for any potential wrongdoing in the former President’s medical care –– including whether Dr. O’Connor produced false or misleading medical reports to the American people.”

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., speaks at a news conference. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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O’Connor’s lawyers previously told Fox News Digital that he invoked the Fifth Amendment because of concerns that the scope of the committee’s investigation could run afoul of standards of doctor-patient confidentiality.

Biden’s allies have repeatedly denounced Comer’s investigation as political and without basis in reality.

Several people who spoke to the committee argued that concerns about Biden’s mental acuity had been heightened by Republican media and pundits, particularly after his disastrous June 2024 debate against now-President Donald Trump.

In an interview with The New York Times in July, Biden claimed he “made every decision” on his own.