Scoop: Top Biden aide was promised $8 million for 2024 win
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
From left: President Biden, Annie Tomasini and Michael C. Donilon on the South Lawn of the White House on April 17, 2024. Photo: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former President Biden's top political aide Mike Donilon told congressional investigators Thursday that he was paid $4 million for his work on Biden's 2024 re-election campaign and would have made an additional $4 million if Biden had won, according to a person familiar with his testimony.
Why it matters: Donilon's testimony shows he had a financial incentive for Biden to run for re-election even as the majority of voters expressed doubts about the president's ability to do the job another four years.
Driving the news: Donilon's $4 million salary was first reported in the book "Original Sin," but the potential $4 million bonus was previously unknown.
- He was the latest Biden aide to be interviewed in the Republican House Oversight Committee's probe of Biden's fitness for office.
- Donilon told investigators that "every president ages over the four years of a presidency and President Biden did as well, but he also continued to grow stronger and wiser as a leader as a result of being tested by some of the most difficult challenges any president has ever faced," according to a copy of his opening statement obtained by Axios.
- "I thought that experience was enormously valuable for the nation," he added.
- Donilon also said he believed that the party over-reacted to Biden's debate performance, according to the person familiar with his testimony.
Zoom in: Donilon left the White House for Biden's re-election campaign in early 2024, but insisted on the multi-million dollar deal, according to "Original Sin."
- By comparison, campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon made $300,000 and went to the campaign at the same time.
Between the lines: Many Biden aides and Democrats across Washington have resented Donilon's high salary and questioned his navigation of Biden's failed re-election effort.
- Donilon had worked with Biden since the early 1980's and he and his family members were closely intertwined with the workings of the Biden White House.
- Some former Biden aides believe that Donilon's self-interest and his affection for Biden led the party into a political disaster.
What they're saying: A spokesperson for Biden declined to comment.
- Donilon and his spokesperson declined to comment.
What next: The GOP-led House oversight committee is still set to interview several other Biden aides including former chief of staff Jeff Zients, senior adviser Anita Dunn, and other spokespeople.
