Below is a slightly expanded version of my column in U.S. News & World Report on the investigations into President Joe Biden’s mental state in his second term of office. While I do not expect any prosecution to come from these investigations, there are ample reasons why we should get answers to some of these questions as we continue to struggle with the problem of presidential incapacity.
Here is the column:
“Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?”
When then-President Joe Biden asked in September 2022 if House Rep. Jackie Walorski, an Indiana Republican who had died weeks earlier in a car accident, was in a meeting, observers were shocked. Biden had not only issued a statement of condolence; he attended the ceremony to lower the flags at the White House in her honor.
As Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple noted last week, that moment should have been a wake-up call. In Washington parlance, it left no room for “plausible deniability” about whether Biden was still fit to hold the office of president. And it wasn’t just Democratic politicians who were willfully blind to Biden’s obvious deterioration.It was also the media.
That’s why the country should fully support President Donald Trump’s June 4 order for his administration to investigate Biden’s competence and answer some of these questions, including the possible abuse of an autopen to sign legislation, pardons and other documents while he was president, instead of looking for political motivations.
Similarly, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee is also investigating.
The New York Times called it part of Trump’s “campaign of retribution against his perceived enemies” and “the latest effort by President Trump to stoke conspiracy theories about his predecessor.”
There is a weird dissonance when journalists blame Biden’s White House for a coverup, but then criticize efforts to investigate that coverup. While criminal charges are unlikely to stem from the investigation, if the White House autopen, for instance, was used without Biden’s consent, that would amount to forgery, obstruction of justice, fraud or other serious crimes.
The complicity of politicians, staff and even the press in deception is nothing new in Washington. A century ago, after President Woodrow Wilson experienced a severe stroke in September 1919, his wife, Edith, and his staff covered up the severity of his condition, which made him incapable of fulfilling his duties until the end of his term and affected the race for a Democratic successor. To end such abuses, we must demand accountability and greater transparency on matters of presidential health and competence.
The 25th Amendment of the Constitution was intended to address succession issues, including the incapacity of a president, but it is very difficult to remove a president without the support of the vice president and most of the Cabinet, which means little can be done without a virtual mutiny within the White House.
That is particularly true when staff have an interest in maintaining the illusion to keep the president and themselves in power. With Biden, according to the reporting in the book “Original Sin” by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, the staff regularly cut off the access of Cabinet secretaries to Biden, limited public events and scripted short remarks for the president to read from teleprompters.
Allegations that Biden’s staff misused the autopen are exceptionally difficult to prove, and Biden has issued a statement insisting he had full knowledge of everything that was signed.
Absent a confession of incapacity, Congress would need someone like John Dean, the White House counsel during the Nixon administration who was willing to break from the ranks and implicate his former associates. So far, there do not appear to be any Deans on the Biden staff, who are likely eager to avoid being implicated in potential improper use of the autopen or other actions that may have circumvented the president or covered up his decline.
But that doesn’t mean the Trump administration and Congress shouldn’t be trying to get to the bottom of what happened. The worst thing for the American people would be a collective shrug and a resumption of business as usual.
In Washington, it is the cover-up that is often the basis for prosecution rather than the original crime. The most likely path to success in such investigations is to get staffers to trip the wire in interviews by lying to or misleading investigators. Such false statements can be (and often are) criminally charged.
Such charges are then often used to wedge witnesses into cooperating with investigators in exchange for plea agreements. One cooperating witness can force a cascading failure for the defense as additional staff members are implicated and rush to make their own plea bargains. It is the Washington version of musical chairs: You do not want to be the last staffer without a plea to sit on.
Currently scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee in the coming weeks are Neera Tanden, the former director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council; Anthony Bernal, Biden’s former assistant and senior advisor to the first lady; Ashley Williams, a former special assistant to Biden and deputy director of Oval Office operations; and Annie Tomasini, Biden’s former deputy chief of staff. Their statements might push divisions to the surface.
Biden was kept on a reduced schedule, allowing him to rally for single events. That is the difference between a major stroke and creeping cognitive decline. The 25th Amendment was designed for catastrophic medical events, not the slow slide to senility.
The result for the office can be largely the same, but the chances of detection are much lower. For now, the Biden scandal shows that very little has changed since the Wilson scandal. With a protective first lady, a lax White House physician and a cooperative staff, it is still possible to conceal the alleged incapacity of a commander in chief. That is why you might not have a “Weekend at Bernie’s“, but you can easily have a full term with Biden.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and the best-selling author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
when do we JAIL the Russian Hoax TRAITORS?
#. Where’s Jackie? I know she’s around here someplace. Jackie stand up.
Yep, no one knew.
#. Yes, investigate. Graven images are forgeries, counterfeit, fraud. Not only that but the failure of the VP and cabinet to address the problem is a national security issue and a form of mutiny in that they usurped , by opportunity the presidency and failed to replace the captain leaving the presidency vacant. Joe could have been kidnapped. What’s the difference.
They should be charged with opportunistic mutiny. They seized control.
https://www.alternet.org/msn-uk/shooting-minnesota/
Gosh darn it, more violence by those left wing whackos.
Oh, sorry, wrong story, move along, nothing to see here.
Hey Baby, Ask Tim Walz about this kind of stuff.
And 22 people were killed during the BLM riots. Your point?
Egyptian who firebombed Jewish event in Colorado failed gun check but wasn’t deported
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/egyptian-who-firebombed-jewish-org-rejected-gun-buy-after-background-check?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=offthepress&utm_campaign=home
LA Rioters Aided Illegal Immigrant’s Escape From ICE Custody
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/06/23/report-los-angeles-rioters-helped-illegal-alien-escape-ice-custody/
Feds nab Texas man who bought fireworks, drove to LA to allegedly kill police at anti-ICE riots
Gosh darn it, more violence by those left wing whackos.
Yes.
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/texas-man-charged-allegedly-obtaining-powerful-explosives-planned-use-against?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=offthepress&utm_campaign=home
What kind of loser is so debilitated by TDS that she literally goes by the moniker BabyTrump? Seriously, you need to reevaluate many of your poor life choices.
First, no more autopen. Second,…. Whatever.
Of all the things Joe & Hunter Biden are forgetting about:
Navy Joan:
https://jonathanturley.org/2023/05/27/a-chance-for-hunter-biden-to-make-amends-for-navy-joan-unleash-his-inner-hans-holbein/
Hunter’s $6.5 Million Dollar Loan
[Link] nbcnews.com/politics/congress/hunter-biden-benefactor-kevin-morris-details-65m-loans-presidents-son-rcna135974
How selfish a Biden is:
[Link] jonathanturley.org/2025/03/06/a-significant-downturn-and-significant-debt-hunter-biden-claims-financial-distress-in-seeking-to-drop-lawsuit-against-ex-white-house-official/
Pardons He made:
[Link] abcnews.go.com/US/pardon-hunter-biden-mired-debt-permanent-home-court/story?id=119520818#:~:text=Hunter%20Biden%20has%20acknowledged%20taking%20out%20millions,affidavit%20whether%20those%20loan%20repayments%20have%20begun.
Alas the Biden’s have entered:
The Eight Degrees of Ignorance and Stupidity [No.5 thru No8]
https://jonathanturley.org/2022/01/08/the-eight-degrees-of-ignorance-and-stupidity/
#. The topic is the 25th and how it failed when a cabinet is corrupt. There isn’t a back up. What lawful action is there when a cabinet fails to remove a brain damaged president?
Thanks for the articles PT. They’ve been a pleasure. It appears people are beginning to shut down, go offline because they really can’t take anymore of the incompetence, the harangue, corruption, doom, ill will, cruelty ignorance, failure to correct, and hate. They’ve tuned in , turned off and dropped out.
During the most recent serious and competent action to free Israel from terrorism and possibly move the Iranians into democracy it must be noted that Israel is a fine ally. President Trump did well and Netanyahu and his team are of signicant note. The old saying that it is right to be Israel’s friend may mean Israel is the fine ally. 😉. Their friendship is the blessing ☺.
#. Prime Minister Netanyahu-
Pardon the error
You wrote that “he attended the ceremony to lower the flags at the White House in her honor.”
I haven’t found any evidence that President Biden attended such a ceremony.
If you have a source confirming this, could you share the link?
You wrote that “he attended the ceremony to lower the flags at the White House in her honor.”
I haven’t found any evidence that President Biden attended such a ceremony.
If you have a source confirming this, could you share the link?
An Autopen Biden judge is trying to ignore the intent of the Supreme Court.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/06/just-biden-judge-sidesteps-supreme-court-says-his
Congress needs to trim the wings of these parakeets of the judiciary. Roberts lost control long ago.
One of the comments to the article
“First the President is overruled by rogue judges, and now the Supremes get a taste of the roguery. Roberts needs to get off his keister and regain control over his judiciary. If he has the cajones to do so that is.”
Turley– “Allegations that Biden’s staff misused the autopen are exceptionally difficult to prove, and Biden has issued a statement insisting he had full knowledge of everything that was signed.”
Was that statement signed by Autopen? Was it drafted by a lawyer or AI? It doesn’t look like anything Biden could draft in his present condition. It is almost more evidence that he isn’t in control of ‘his’ statements. Too clever by half. I wondered how long before a document like that sprouted. Try Biden on the same issue in a deposition.
Get people in the Biden WH scared and talking and misuse of the Autopen may be relatively easy to prove.
Yep. Issue subpoenas and pose the questions to the principals. I’m willing to bet that something will pop up and that witness will be turned.
Biden-appointed federal judge rules cease-fire between Iran and Israel is unconstitutional, orders them to keep fighting.
And because secession is not prohibited, secession is prohibited.
Which obliterates Lincoln’s entire legal basis and unconstitutional legacy—the “Reconstruction Amendments” come to mind—the abrogation of which would put America squarely back on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Once amendments are ratified, they are part of the Constitution. By definition they cannot be unconstitutional.
I care very little about Israel per se, and I loathe war, but one less country with the bomb is probably good for humanity.
If that is truly what this was all about. We will see
Anon
#. It was about making the world a safer place for a limited period of time. President Trump is doing what he can at high speed because there’s little time. The resistance in that effort is an additional tragedy.
Interesting article. But please proofread your work.
#. A ceasefire was just called between Iran and Israel. They’re going to talk peace. Taking bets it won’t make it 24 hours. Anyone?
The dems are just outraged . Orange man spoiled their plan to annihilate Israel. Poor babies, mommy will kiss it make it aw better, hose.
Haha 😂.
Iran is in disarray. How is Gaza doing? Any attacks? Anyone attacking Israel?
^^^ next day, it didn’t last . It must have been a ceasefire while reloading. Regime change. Free the Iranian people from the stoneage.