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House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., issued a subpoena Thursday to Anthony Bernal, former Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the First Lady, to appear for a July 16 deposition.
It comes as part of the committee’s investigation into the alleged cover-up of former President Joe Biden’s mental decline and potentially unauthorized executive actions.
Bernal had confirmed his appearance for a voluntary transcribed interview on June 26, but after the White House Counsel’s office informed him it was waiving executive privilege for the Oversight committee’s investigation, he refused to appear.
“Given your close connection with both former President Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden, the Committee sought to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden’s fitness to serve from the American people,” Comer wrote in a letter to Bernal on Thursday with the subpoena attached. “You have refused the Committee’s request. However, to advance the Committee’s oversight and legislative responsibilities and interests, your testimony is critical.”
First lady Jill Biden and her senior advisor Anthony Bernal arrive to the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 7, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Comer said that the committee “seeks information about your assessment of and relationship with former President Biden to explore whether the time has come for Congress to revisit potential legislation to address the oversight of presidents’ fitness to serve pursuant to its authority under Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment or to propose changes to the Twenty-Fifth Amendment itself.”
Bernal is one of five former senior advisors who Comer has said “were eyewitnesses to President Biden’s condition and operations within the Biden White House.”
The committee has already subpoenaed Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, in connection to their investigation, and he is scheduled to give a closed-door deposition on July 9.
Another former senior White House aide, Neera Tanden, agreed to comply and voluntarily testified for five hours behind closed doors on Tuesday.
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Anthony Bernal, Chief of Staff to first lady Jill Biden, listens to remarks by President Joe Biden during a “Christmas for All Dinner in Celebration of Unity, America, and Special Olympics,” at the White House on Dec. 10, 2024. (Tom Brenner/Getty Images)
Tanden, the former director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council, told the committee that she was authorized to direct autopen signatures but was unaware of who in the president’s inner circle was giving her final clearance, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital. She also reportedly vehemently denied that there was any cover-up of Biden’s mental state.
The committee is also seeking testimony from former senior White House aides Annie Tomasini and Ashley Williams. They agreed to voluntarily appear for testimonies scheduled for next month.
“They must appear before the House Oversight Committee and provide truthful answers about President Biden’s cognitive state and who was calling the shots,” Comer said of the five earlier this month.
First lady Jill Biden and her senior advisor, Anthony Bernal, arrive for the trial of Hunter Biden, on June 4, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
In addition to the House probe, President Donald Trump earlier this month directed his administration to investigate Biden’s actions as president, claiming aides masked the 46th president’s “cognitive decline.” Biden responded in a written statement: “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”
In a memo describing the investigation, Trump said, “This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history.”
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“The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts,” he added.
Fox News’ Alex Schemmel and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
