The House Oversight Committee, under Republican leadership, reportedly released new video footage Tuesday that sheds further light on the role of Mike Donilon, President Joe Biden’s longtime political strategist, during the final months of the 2024 campaign — including the revelation that Donilon stood to collect a multi-million-dollar bonus if Biden had defeated Donald Trump.
A reserved Donilon, testifying before the committee, acknowledged that he was already paid $4 million for his work on Biden’s reelection effort. Pressed on the “circumstances” that would trigger a bonus, Donilon confirmed it would have been awarded if Biden had prevailed in November. “I believe it would have been $4 million,” he said.
The acknowledgment underscores a significant financial stake in keeping Biden in the race — even as the president’s deteriorating public performances generated widespread concern among Democrats. The inquiry is focused on whether Biden’s closest aides concealed signs of cognitive decline during the campaign to prevent a potentially damaging withdrawal.
According to The New York Times, which first reported on Donilon’s testimony in August, the strategist was part of “a very small inner circle of aides who kept damaging information from Mr. Biden.” Those reports included private accounts that Biden struggled in high-pressure settings long before his faltering debate performance in June 2024.
At 66, Donilon was one of the most influential voices urging Biden to stay the course. He “steadfastly resisted” calls for the president to exit the race, The Times noted — even as prominent Democrats publicly questioned whether Biden could serve another four-year term.
Republicans now argue that Donilon’s financial interests may have overpowered objective political judgment, especially given Biden’s historically low poll numbers and internal warnings about voter concerns regarding his age and acuity.
“This isn’t just about campaign strategy,” a Republican member of the committee said following the footage release. “It’s about whether the American people were misled about the president’s fitness for office — and whether those entrusted to protect him were instead protecting themselves.”
Donilon, however, defended his view of Biden’s capabilities. “What I saw, day in and day out, was a leader who was deeply engaged and in command on critical issues, both at home and abroad,” he told lawmakers, according to CNN, framing his loyalty as rooted in conviction rather than compensation.
The Oversight Committee’s investigation continues to examine who knew what — and when — as the White House scrambled to contain political fallout from the president’s declining public performance. The footage released Tuesday is part of Donilon’s 268-minute recorded interview, which Republicans say raises new conflicts for a campaign already under scrutiny.
While Democrats have dismissed the inquiry as partisan theater, Republicans argue that the stakes are far more serious: transparency about the health and leadership of a sitting president. With the election now in the past but its consequences still reverberating, the battle over what happened inside Biden’s inner circle shows no sign of ending.
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