(NewsNation) — Democratic lawmakers refused to participate in a hearing Wednesday focused on President Joe Biden’s final months in office and whether the mainstream media helped cover up his cognitive abilities.
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard from three witnesses, including two former Trump administration White House staffers, who have testified on what they have described as a “cover-up” by members of the media and Biden’s inner circle.
“There was a conspiracy to hide the president’s true condition by his family, by his staff, by the media, and many elected officials. This was a constitutional crisis bigger than President Biden, bigger than any single election, and one that cannot be absolved by the collective apology of the press and an election where the president’s party lost,” Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in his opening statement.
The committee said it is investigating allegations that the Biden administration hid signs of his cognitive decline during his time in office. Biden has repeatedly denied these allegations.
Coryn and Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., made their accusations against Biden and his inner circle to a mostly empty room after most Democrats on the panel boycotted the hearing.
Democrats walk out of Biden hearing
Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., were the only two Democrats to attend the hearing’s opening.
Durbin, the committee’s ranking member, immediately walked out after referring to the hearing as a distraction from issues such as Trump’s deployment of the military to respond to immigration protests.
“So far this year the Republican majority on this committee has not held a single oversight hearing, despite numerous critical challenges facing the nation that our under our jurisdiction,” Durbin said.
Welch left the hearing after he claimed the event had no benefit for his constituents.
According to the Washington Examiner, most Senate Democrats on the committee planned to skip the hearing altogether.
Republicans said the hearing was meant to provide transparency, while Democrats have dismissed it as a “waste of time.”
“This is the kind of coarseness that America doesn’t like, and they’re just unrelenting in diversionary activity, actions,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said he sees value in the hearing.
“I think it’ll be important to understand what happens in a White House scenario; what should have been called out. I think members of the media were complicit in this, too,” he said.
GOP probes into Biden era escalate
The hearing comes amid a broader Republican push to investigate Biden’s presidency.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel to investigate Biden, alleging aides masked his predecessor’s “cognitive decline” and casting doubts on his use of the autopen to sign official documents.
James Comer, R-Ky., has requested interviews with five Biden aides, alleging they participated in a “cover-up” to conceal signs of decline.
These developments follow the release of “Original Sin,” a book by two journalists alleging Biden aides shielded the former president’s signs of mental decline. Members of the Biden family have dismissed the book’s claims as false.
The Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.