Ashley Williams, a longtime White House aide who served in Oval Office operations and later as a senior adviser, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on June 24, 2025, that in her experience “President Biden was in command and fully executed his duties as president of The United States of America.”

Williams testified during a transcribed interview requested by Chairman James Comer as part of an inquiry into the former president’s physical and mental fitness. The committee’s questioning focused on whether White House staff restricted access to the president, handled decisions without his authorization, or otherwise concealed his condition from the public.

Williams said she did not recall ever denying anyone physical access to President Biden and said she had no awareness of anyone else in the White House doing so. “I do not recall any instance in which I denied access,” she told committee counsel. She added she was not aware of any instance in which presidential actions—executive orders, memoranda, pardons or clemency—were issued without President Biden’s knowledge or authorization.

The witness described the Oval Office operations team as the front office responsible for executing the president’s schedule and facilitating who met the president. She disputed descriptions supplied in some media reports and books that the team acted to create a protective “bubble” that concealed the president’s condition. Asked directly whether she, Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Thomasini, or the first lady’s adviser Anthony Bernal had created such a cocoon, Williams replied, “I do not agree with that characterization.”

Williams also described the personal toll the public controversy has had on staff. She said the reporting and online commentary prompted threats and abusive messages aimed at her and others. “It has been incredibly difficult to go online and see my name be completely disparaged,” she said, describing messages she received after media accounts.

On the record, Williams defended the standard operating procedures she saw in the White House for scheduling, access and delivery of briefing materials. She said the president’s medical summaries were released by his doctor and that she had no role in drafting or editing those public summaries. When asked whether she believed President Biden would be fit to serve as president today, Williams replied, “Yes. I do.”

Williams’s remarks came amid assertions by the committee that staff had prepared talking points, cue cards or other materials to guide the president’s public appearances. She told the panel such materials are standard practice when staff prepare a principal for public events and were intended to coordinate logistics among Secret Service, White House military personnel and other teams.

The witness repeatedly emphasized limits to her memory on granular details — for example, exact dates of some communications or the precise distribution logs for briefing materials — but was clear in denying knowledge of any unauthorized executive actions or any intentional concealment of the president from the public record.

The committee’s interview proceeded in rounds, with the majority asking the first hour of questions and minority members following. The record includes committee counsel’s identification of exhibits and Williams’s prepared statement, which opened with the line she repeated in testimony: “In my experience, President Biden was in command and fully executed his duties as president of The United States of America.”

The interview transcript stretches across several hours and covered topics that included White House operations, the decision- and briefing-book process, media reporting about the president’s performance, a visit Williams made to the Penn Biden Center, and Williams’s personal experiences with online harassment.

Williams was accompanied by personal counsel during the interview and repeatedly invoked the committee’s ground rules; she also told members she had cooperated with special counsel interviews in the past. The witness said she appeared voluntarily and that she intended to be “complete and truthful” in her answers.