Jimmy Patronis’ first bill calls for investigation of ‘big lie’ on Joe Biden’s cognitive state

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis wants Congress investigating former President Joe Biden’s mental state.

The Fort Walton Republican filed his first bill since his election to Congress, and said he wants to expose Biden’s “big lie.” The legislation would establish a Select Committee on President Biden’s Cognitive Decline.

Patronis teased the bill last week and unveiled a version while countering Democratic rhetoric attacking President Donald Trump’s honesty in the last five years.

“For years, we’ve heard about the ‘big lie’ — and it turned out the big lie was a massive coverup by Team Biden,” Patronis said.

“What we’ve seen to date is many ex-Biden staffers speaking to reporters and making serious claims that Joe Biden was not cognitively present. What they’ve said to reporters was he didn’t know his staff, he didn’t know what was being signed, and that most of his words in private and public had to be scripted. Clearly, that’s a problem.”

Patronis also went after Biden’s staff.

“Most concerning, however, was that the staffers around him knew he wasn’t mentally functional. They knew that he couldn’t retain facts, formulate opinions, or have any ability to articulate himself. Rather than doing the right thing and coming forward to the American people about a President that just couldn’t do the job — steps were taken to hide the truth from the American people.”

Patronis referenced the term Democrats have frequently used to describe Trump’s insistence that the 2020 election, where Biden defeated Trump, was rigged. Trump’s rhetoric inspired his supporters to riot at the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the certification of election results.

Biden ultimately dropped out of the 2024 election in July, and Trump defeated Democratic replacement nominee Kamala Harris in November.

Patronis’ bill hits the hopper amid considerable speculation about Biden’s health following the release of “Original Sin,” a book by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios correspondent Alex Thompson.

“As Biden withered, steps were taken to limit his access to not only the public, but also his own Cabinet. His personal signature was replaced by the autopen, and his thoughts replaced by scripts, stage directions, and teleprompters,” Patronis said.

“This presents some real problems for our country. For years, the mainstream media, the editorial boards, the special interests, in short, the Washington Swamp, all lectured us about the norms and the importance of institutions to the fabric of our government — and it turns out our government was closer to Idiocracy than the Shining City on the Hill. What greater Constitutional crisis is there than finding out that we basically had no Chief Executive?”

Patronis also has suggested Biden’s mental state could undermine the validity of bills, pardons and orders signed in the latter part of his term.

“I have always felt that transparency is the best disinfectant. That’s why today, I filed legislation creating the Select Committee on President Biden’s Cognitive Decline. The legislation is very simple — I asked my team to dust off the J6 hearings approach and orient it for Biden’s BIG LIE,” Patronis said.

“Some of the key questions to be answered by the Committee include the following: when did Biden’s cognitive abilities begin slipping away; what orders or decisions were made when Biden had reduced capacity; who knew of Biden’s cognitive infirmities and when; and how long were these issues concealed from the American people? And once we establish the facts, Congress can begin holding people accountable and unwinding whatever unconstitutional actions took place during the Big Lie. This situation has created a real mess for our democracy, but through this difficult process, we can begin the healing and reestablish confidence in our institutions.”