Comer says Sams met Biden only twice in two years as GOP expands Biden aide testimony
Washington — House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer says former White House spokesman Ian Sams saw President Joe Biden on only two occasions over more than two years in his administration, a claim circulated by Comer after a transcribed interview with committee staff.
Comer told reporters that Sams “communicated with Joe Biden two times, he saw Joe Biden, talked to Joe Biden — two times,” and contrasted Sams’ time with that of former special counsel Robert Hur, who he said spent more time with Biden. Sams served as a spokesman for the White House Counsel’s Office from mid-2022 until August 2024, when he left to join Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign as a senior adviser.
The remarks form part of the House investigation into what Republicans describe as a cover-up of Biden’s mental state and potential improper wielding of executive authority. Comer questioned who was calling the shots at the White House if the president was shielded from communications with key aides. He noted that Hur spent more time with Biden than Sams, and he pointed to a period when he said “very few people around Joe Biden, especially at the end,” coinciding with the signing of pardons and executive orders, which Comer said were done with limited staffing and “autopen” use.
Sams left the White House to work on Harris’s campaign, and Comer’s team has framed the current disclosures as part of a broader inquiry into the inner workings of the administration and decision-making processes at the highest level.
What to watch next
– The committee continues to publish interviews with former Biden aides as it probes questions about access to the president and the appearance of executive-branch decision-making during the late administration.
– Respondents and the White House are expected to offer counterpoints and contextual explanations in future testimony and public statements.
– The investigation remains part of a broader political fight over transparency and accountability in the Biden White House.
Additional context
– The inquiry has repeatedly cited the notion that there were limited staff around Biden late in his term and raised questions about how and by whom major policy actions were approved.
Overall, the developments highlight ongoing scrutiny of access to the president and the processes behind major executive actions as lawmakers seek greater transparency about the administration’s inner workings.