House Republicans investigating former President Biden’s mental fitness while in office are flexing their subpoena power to get testimony from Anthony Bernal, who was a top aide to former first lady Jill Biden.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) issued a subpoena Thursday for a deposition from Bernal on July 16 after Bernal, who was reportedly so close to the former first lady that he was referred to as her “work husband,” notified the committee Wednesday that he would not take part in an interview that was scheduled Thursday.
President Trump’s administration suspended legal protections for Biden officials testifying in the probe the day before Bernal was to take part in a transcribed interview with the committee.
“You have refused the Committee’s request. However, to advance the Committee’s
oversight and legislative responsibilities and interests, your testimony is critical,” Comer wrote in a Thursday letter to Bernal.
Comer had blasted Bernal publicly Wednesday after he said he’d skip the committee’s scheduled interview with him.
“Now that the White House has waived executive privilege, it’s abundantly clear that Anthony Bernal — Jill Biden’s so-called ‘work husband’ — never intended to be transparent about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and the ensuing cover-up,” Comer said in a statement. “With no privilege left to hide behind, Mr. Bernal is now running scared, desperate to bury the truth.”
“The American people deserve answers and accountability, and the Oversight Committee will not tolerate this obstruction,” Comer added. “To avoid any further delays, your appearance before the Committee is now compelled.”
Bernal’s influence in the Biden administration was detailed in the book “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson.
“He considered loyalty to be the defining virtue and would wield that word to elevate some and oust others – at times fairly and at times not. ‘Are you a Biden person?’ he would ask West Wing aides. ‘Is so-and-so a Biden person?’ The regular interrogations led some colleagues to dub him the leader of the ‘loyalty police,'” the reporters wrote.
Comer has questioned who had authority to use the presidential autopen to sign off on White House actions while Biden was in office. The “Original Sin” authors wrote that one source told them that “five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board.”
“The cover-up of President Biden’s mental decline is one of the greatest scandals in our nation’s history,” Comer said earlier this month in announcing the expansion of his investigation. “These five former senior advisers were eyewitnesses to President Biden’s condition and operations within the Biden White House.”
He also has sought testimony from top Biden aides Michael Donilon, Anita Dunn, Ron Klain, Bruce Reed and Steve Ricchetti.
The panel privately interviewed Neera Tanden, who was the former president’s staff secretary, earlier this week.
Comer said Tanden revealed “she had minimal interaction with President Biden, despite wielding tremendous authority.”
“Her testimony raises serious questions about who was really calling the shots in the Biden White House amid the President’s obvious decline,” the Oversight chair said.
Comer’s committee sought to subpoena Bernal last year after then-President Biden faltered in the presidential debate with Trump and ultimately dropped his reelection bid, but the Biden administration refused to waive executive privilege that shields White House staffers from divulging private conversations with presidents.
Axios reported that a person familiar with Bernal’s interactions with the House Oversight panel disputed Comer’s characterization of Bernal’s stance on testifying.
“Calling this a ‘refusal’ is misleading, when there was simply a request to reschedule the interview,” the person, whom Axios did not name, told the outlet.
The former president’s official office didn’t immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
