The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed three top Biden administration officials to testify before Congress regarding President Joe Biden‘s mental fitness, accusing White House staff of “running interference” for the president as he deals with “cognitive decline.”
The Oversight Committee sent subpoenas requesting testimony from Ashley Williams, special assistant to the president and deputy director of Oval Office operations; Anthony Bernal, assistant to the president and senior adviser to the first lady; and Annie Tomasini, deputy chief of staff. All three are being called to sit for depositions in July.
“The White House has shielded three key aides from testifying about President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents and now we’ve learned through reporting these same aides are also seeking to cover up President Biden’s declining cognitive state inside the White House,” Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said in a statement. “President Biden is clearly unfit for office, yet his staff are trying to hide the truth from the American people. Key White House staff must come before our committee so we can provide the transparency and accountability that Americans deserve.”
Comer accuses the staff members of creating a “protective bubble” around Biden, resulting in him being “staffed so closely that he’s lost all independence.” The requests for testimony come as Biden has faced questions from both parties about whether he is mentally fit to carry out his duties, especially raising concerns among Democrats about whether he can be reelected in November.
The committee initially requested testimony from the three staff members in November after learning that they, along with a Defense Department employee, were involved in the early stages of moving and organizing boxes at the Penn Biden Center — materials that were later learned to be classified documents.
Now, Comer is reiterating the importance of calling the staffers to testify, arguing the trio is part of an alleged cover-up of Biden’s mental health from the public. The letters press the staffers to provide information about any “firsthand knowledge of the extent to which President Biden is personally carrying out the duties of his office and whether he is capable of doing so.”
That testimony, Comer wrote, will then be used to determine whether Congress should “revisit potential legislation” to execute the 25th Amendment and remove Biden from office.
“The Committee is concerned that Ms. Williams appears to be one of several White House staffers who have taken it upon themselves to run the country while the President cannot,” the letter to Williams states. “To be clear, the American people did not elect Ms. Williams or any White House staffer to do President Biden’s job for him, and the Committee seeks Ms. Williams testimony regarding the matters identified above.”
The subpoenas come as Republicans have seized on concerns about Biden’s age and mental acuity, which have only been exacerbated after the first presidential debate.
Comer also announced on Sunday he would be seeking testimony from Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, regarding the president’s “declining mental state.”
The request comes in response to conflicting information from the Biden White House about how recently the president was evaluated. The White House had been unclear about what checkups Biden may have had after his disastrous debate performance last month only heightened concerns over his age and acuity, but on Thursday confirmed that Biden had a checkup after the debate.
Comer cited a report from O’Connor in February that Biden “remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency” and that it was not “recommended that [President] Biden take a cognitive test.”
“The Oversight Committee is concerned your medical assessments have been influenced by your private business endeavors with the Biden family,” Comer wrote in a letter to O’Connor, requesting information about the physician’s alleged involvement in a defunct healthcare company tied to the president’s brother.
“I think everyone in America would like to hear from the White House physician,” Comer said on Tuesday. “I don’t think very many people in America would agree that Joe Biden is in top physical and mental condition. And a lot of people want to know has he been given cognitive tests? Are there examples of early stages of dementia and things like that?”
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The White House brushed off the subpoenas, denouncing it as a “baseless political stunt … to get media attention instead of engage in legitimate oversight.”
“[Comer’s] partisan attacks on the President have been discredited, and now he continues to debase the House by weaponizing subpoenas to get headlines instead of seeking information through the proper constitutional process,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement.