Monday, February 23, 2026

Oversight Committee Rips Ex-Biden Aide in Autopen Probe.

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: The House Oversight Committee criticized former Biden spokesman Andrew Bates over his opening remarks during an investigation into the usage of autopen for executive decisions under former President Joe Biden.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Andrew Bates, the House Oversight Committee, and Chairman James Comer (R-KY).

📍WHEN & WHERE: Friday, September 5, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

💬KEY QUOTE: “Andrew Bates was part of the Biden cognitive decline cover-up, and he’s delusional,” an Oversight Committee spokesman stated.

🎯IMPACT: The investigation into President Biden’s cognitive state and the alleged use of autopen for clemency orders is raising questions about executive decision-making and transparency.

IN FULL

The House Oversight Committee is blasting Andrew Bates, a former Biden spokesman, over his remarks during a probe into the use of an autopen for executive actions under former President Joe Biden. Bates, who recently participated in an interview with House investigators, deflected questions regarding Biden’s cognitive state, instead using his opening statement to attack the investigation and President Donald J. Trump’s policies.

“Andrew Bates was part of the Biden cognitive decline cover-up, and he’s delusional,” an Oversight Committee spokesman said in response to Bates’s leaked opening statement. The spokesman added that Bates’s remarks “peddled the same fantasy he’s been trying to sell the American people,” noting that the public witnessed President Biden’s cognitive decline firsthand.

In his statement, Bates expressed pride in supporting Biden as President, claiming it was “universally understood that Joe Biden was in charge” during his time in the White House.

The House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer (R-KY), is investigating whether senior White House aides covered up signs of President Biden’s mental decline and whether executive decisions were signed off on via autopen without Biden’s full awareness. The investigation is particularly focused on clemency orders signed in the latter half of Biden’s term.

Biden allies have dismissed the probe as politically motivated, while the Oversight Committee maintains that the investigation is uncovering significant transparency and governance issues.

Image by Gage Skidmore.

Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.

show less
show more

Biden Campaign Again Leans In To ‘Dark Brandon’ Meme Closely Associated With Allegations He Molested His Daughter.

The Biden re-election campaign is once again leaning into the ‘Dark Brandon’ internet meme despite its close association with allegations that President Joe Biden molested his daughter Ashley Biden and showered naked with her when she was a child. Staffers for the President have gravitated toward the @VoteDarkBrandon account on X (formerly Twitter), which has worked to give the illusion that Biden is a cold, calculated political mastermind.

“Dark Brandon” originated as an effort by Democrat activists to counter the “Let’s Go Brandon” meme popular among Trump supporters. Democrat staffers ran with the notion of Biden as ‘Brandon’ and then simply copied the style of another online conservative meme, “Dark MAGA.”

Initial iterations of “Dark Brandon” faced backlash after Andrew Bates, the White House Deputy Press Secretary, posted a variation of the “Dark Brandon” meme featuring a Parteiadler – the eagle symbol used by the German Nazi Party during Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. Others noted the “Dark Brandon” image was lifted from Chinese Communist Party propaganda depicting Biden with glowing eyes and an unsettling smirk.

However, the Chinese-produced “Dark Brandon” images were also associated with an entry in the dairy of Ashley Biden — the President’s daughter. The Biden meme featured the ominous text “It’s Shower Time Ashely,” referencing an entry in her diary that reads: “Was I molested? I think so — I can’t remember specifics but I do remember trauma. Hyper-sexualized @ a young age . . . I remember being somewhat sexualized with Caroline; I remember having sex with friends @ a young age; showers w/my dad (probably not appropriate).”

Official “Dark Brandon” merchandise purchased through the Biden campaign to raise election funds accounts for half of the campaign site’s sales.

show less
The Biden re-election campaign is once again leaning into the 'Dark Brandon' internet meme despite its close association with allegations that President Joe Biden molested his daughter Ashley Biden and showered naked with her when she was a child. Staffers for the President have gravitated toward the @VoteDarkBrandon account on X (formerly Twitter), which has worked to give the illusion that Biden is a cold, calculated political mastermind. show more