In an unexpected detail from a congressional investigation, former White House spokesman Ian Sams revealed that he had just two in-person meetings with President Biden during his two years of service.
According to New York Post, the disclosure has intensified scrutiny over President Biden’s accessibility and leadership role during his final year in office, amid Republican-led probes into his mental acuity and decision-making process.
Ian Sams, who served as spokesperson for the White House Counsel’s Office from 2022 until August 2024, provided this information during a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee. He also noted one virtual meeting and one phone call with the president during his two-plus years in the role.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, called the revelations surprising and concerning. He said this testimony cast further doubt on Biden’s hands-on involvement in presidential decisions late in his term. Comer remarked that former Special Counsel Robert Hur spent more time with the president during a two-day interview than Sams did as his own spokesperson.
Hur investigated Biden's handling of classified materials retained from his time as vice president and U.S. senator. Although Hur did not pursue charges, he cited Biden’s age and perceived memory issues as reasons a jury might not convict, referring to him as an “elderly man with a poor memory.”
Sams disputed the characterization in Hur’s final report, which he described as inaccurate and containing unprofessional comments. Sam’s interview with committee staff lasted just over three hours, and he left without addressing reporters.
According to unnamed former colleagues, Sams’s limited access to President Biden was believable. A former Biden staffer noted that Sams operated out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building instead of the more central West Wing, where direct interaction with the president is more likely.
One former aide said Sams had “zero contact” with Biden and expressed surprise he had even met the president twice in person. Another described the number of meetings as “more than I thought.”
Comer questioned who was controlling key executive decisions if even the spokesman for the White House Counsel had limited access to the president. He asked pointedly, “Who was operating the Oval Office?”
Public reporting has previously pointed to a small group of advisers said to have taken on decision-making duties toward the end of Biden’s presidency. Journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson identified five individuals—Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, Bruce Reed, Jill Biden, and Hunter Biden—as central figures in what the authors described as an informal managing group.
Former Chief of Staff Ron Klain and personal aide Annie Tomasini were also cited as parts of this core team at various times, according to the book “Original Sin.”
Lawmakers have already interviewed several members of this group, including Donilon, Ricchetti, Reed, and Klain. Ricchetti stated in his testimony that he believed Biden was fully capable of fulfilling his responsibilities throughout his presidency.
Bruce Reed pointed to Biden’s lifelong stutter as a reason for the president’s poor debate performance in June 2024. Donilon, in contrast, felt the Democratic response to the debate had been an overreaction. Klain also disclosed that National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was unsure of Biden’s political strength during that period.
Three aides called by the committee—Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, and presidential physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor—declined to answer questions during their sessions, invoking the Fifth Amendment.
Questions about operational transparency escalated further after reports that President Biden signed most executive orders and pardons in his final months using an autopen. Comer said this indicated that very few people had access to the president as he neared the end of his term.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told The New York Times in July that he had approved some of Biden’s pardon decisions without the president’s full involvement, which prompted a critical response from the Department of Justice. Around 2,500 nonviolent drug offenders received commutations, though DOJ records revealed nearly a dozen among them had prior violent crime charges.
Sams also expressed surprise during his testimony that Biden granted a pardon to his son Hunter following convictions for tax and firearms violations. He said he did not expect Biden to also issue pre-emptive clemency for other family members who were not under indictment.
The interview with Sams was the eleventh conducted as part of the House Oversight Committee’s ongoing investigation into the handling of the Biden presidency's final phase. Comer described the testimony as one of the most eye-opening yet in the series of interviews.
More witnesses are expected to appear before the committee in early September, including White House aides Andrew Bates, Karine Jean-Pierre, and Jeff Zients, scheduled for questioning on September 5, 12, and 18, respectively.
As the probe continues, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are expected to scrutinize not just Biden’s personal capacity but also how executive power was delegated and exercised in the latter half of his administration.
