Tapper and Thompson’s Original Sin, based on interviews with about 200 people, described a small circle of aides, family members and advisers who limited Biden’s schedule and access and convinced themselves he could serve a second term. The Guardian’s reviewer called it “a stinging verdict on a cover-up.” [1]

The House Oversight majority’s October 2025 report said Dr. Kevin O’Connor “never conducted a cognitive exam of the president,” and that chief of staff Jeff Zients recommended a “full workup” after the debate. O’Connor, Anthony Bernal, Jill Biden’s chief of staff, and Annie Tomasini, a deputy chief of staff, all invoked the Fifth Amendment rather than answer the committee’s questions. [2][3][4]

Invoking the Fifth is a right and cannot be treated as an admission. Committee Democrats issued a competing account of the same testimony, arguing that it showed Biden making his own decisions; Ron Klain, for instance, testified that Biden made some decisions orally. [2][5]