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Michael Donilon, a longtime aide to former President Joe Biden, is currently meeting with House investigators for Oversight Committee Chair James Comer’s autopen probe on Wednesday.
Donilon has been a close confidante of Biden since 1981 when they first worked together when Biden was a U.S. senator from Delaware.
With a Bachelor’s Degree and Juris Doctor from Georgetown University, Donilon is well-versed in Washington, D.C. politics.
Donilon played a significant role in both Biden’s 2020 and 2024 campaigns as a chief strategist and was one of the key figures who defended Biden after his poor performance in the June 2024 debate against then-President Donald Trump.
“Now, lots of people have terrible debates,” Donilon said during a Harvard University event. “Lots of people have terrible debates. Usually the party doesn’t lose its mind, but that’s what happened here. It melted down.”
This led to criticism from fellow left-wingers, including ex-Obama advisor and CNN political commentator David Axelrod, who called Donilon’s comments “delusional”.
Donilon has a long history of working on successful Democratic campaigns, including those of former President Bill Clinton in 1992 and ex-Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder in 1989.
However, it is Donilon’s time as a senior advisor to the Biden White House and his involvement in Biden’s short-lived 2024 campaign that has drawn the attention of the House Oversight Committee.
Described as a member of Biden’s “Politburo” in the book “Original Sin”, Donilon was part of a small group of insiders who reportedly ran the White House while concealing signs of Biden’s decline from others.
He was reportedly paid $4 million for his work on Biden’s re-election bid.
The Wall Street Journal reported in Dec. 2024 that Donilon also served as a key intermediary between Biden and his pollsters during the short-lived campaign.
Donilon remained with Biden until the end of his administration, reportedly being one of the aides in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware when Biden drafted the letter that ended his campaign.
Following this, Donilon became a Spring 2025 Resident Fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics.
