A former top spokesman for Joe Biden, who once dismissed concerns about the president’s mental fitness as a “conspiracy,” only met with him in person twice during his time at the White House, according to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer.
Comer, R-Ky., led a closed-door interview with Ian Sams, who served as a senior advisor and spokesman for the White House Counsel’s Office from May 2022 through August 2024. “That was probably the most informative transcribed interview slash deposition we’ve had thus far. I’ll give Mr. Sam’s credit. He answered our questions,” Comer told reporters.
“I think one of the most shocking things to me is… he communicated with Joe Biden two times. He saw Joe Biden, talked to Joe Biden two times, the entire stint as White House spokesperson, but yet he would – every day – tweet and issue statements from the podium of the White House,” Comer added.
After the interview, Comer clarified that Sams had interacted with Biden on four occasions total – two in-person meetings, one virtual meeting, and one phone call.
Sams left the White House before Biden’s mental acuity became a national issue, but he was one of Biden’s fiercest defenders during some of the most difficult moments of his administration. He frequently pushed back against Republican investigations into Biden’s handling of classified documents and his family’s foreign business ties.
In February 2024, Sams criticized Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on Biden, which described him as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Hur had declined to bring charges, but Comer pointed out, “In fact, Robert Hur spent more time with Joe Biden than Ian Sams.”
Comer argued that Sams nevertheless became the White House’s public face in defending Biden’s mental fitness. “He interacted with the president two times, the entire time he worked in the White House,” Comer said.
Following Biden’s widely criticized June 2024 debate performance against Donald Trump, Sams dismissed Republican inquiries into Biden’s physician and told MSNBC that Biden was “sharp” and asked “tough questions.” He also accused critics of pushing “crazy, discredited conspiracy theories.”
Comer said the lack of direct interaction between Sams and Biden raises questions about who was really making decisions in the White House. “When we ask questions, ‘When you said this, did Joe Biden tell you that?’ ‘Well, no.’ So it raises serious concerns about who was calling the shots,” Comer stated.
The Oversight Committee is examining whether Biden’s aides concealed signs of cognitive decline and if some executive actions, including clemency orders signed via autopen, were authorized without Biden’s full involvement. Biden, however, has insisted he “made every decision.”
Comer concluded: “Rather than drawing conclusions from firsthand experience, Mr. Sams received much of his direction from the White House Counsel and Biden’s inner circle. Mr. Sams repeatedly made broad public claims about the President’s cognitive condition, but he was not in a position to make these claims based on such limited contact. Mr. Sams’s testimony raises serious questions about who is truly calling the shots in the White House. We will continue to press for answers to ensure full transparency for the American people.”
