Overview

• Bates, a former senior deputy press secretary, appeared voluntarily for a closed-door, transcribed interview on Friday as the 11th former Biden official to meet with House Oversight investigators.
• In his prepared remarks, Bates said it was universally understood inside the White House that Joe Biden made the decisions, and he criticized the GOP inquiry while denouncing President Trump.
• Republicans are scrutinizing the White House’s reliance on an autopen they say was used to approve mass clemency for more than 2,500 inmates without individual case review.
• A New York Times report said Biden approved broad commutation criteria that effectively shifted case-level decisions to staff, and internal DOJ emails reported by the Oversight Project indicated a senior official warned the White House about potentially misleading public claims on pardons.
• Previous testimony cited by Chairman James Comer includes Ian Sams stating he met Biden in person only twice in two years, and the panel has also compelled appearances from Anthony Bernal, Annie Tomasini, and Dr. Kevin O’Connor.