By Michelle L. Price and Matt Brown, Associated Press
Washington (AP) As part of their quickly growing probe into former President Joe Biden’s mental health while in office, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Anthony Bernal, a senior staffer to former first lady Jill Biden, on Thursday.
Bernal must attend for a deposition on July 16 in response to the subpoena signed by Republican Oversight chairman Rep. James Comer of Kentucky. It followed weeks of back and forth with Bernal’s attorney on when to schedule a voluntary interview.
According to the subpoena, the Committee wanted to know if you were involved in any attempt to conceal former President Biden’s suitability for office from the American people because of your close relationship with both him and former First Lady Jill Biden. You are now required to appear before the Committee in order to prevent any more delays.
Bernal is probably not the last former Biden employee to be subpoenaed by the committee. Neera Tanden, a former head of Biden’s domestic policy counsel, testified voluntarily before the committee this week. As part of its inquiry, the committee hopes to question a number of other people in Biden’s closest circle.
A message asking for comment was not answered by Bernal on Thursday.
Additionally, Comer has subpoenaed Dr. Kevin O. Connor, Biden’s White House doctor. On July 9, O’Connor is scheduled to testify before the committee.
All of this is a part of an extraordinary Republican attempt to look into the past president six months after he stepped down, with assistance from President Donald Trump. Trump has questioned the validity of Biden’s use of the autopento sign pardons and other documents, and he has directed White House attorneys and the Justice Department to look into the matter.
According to a White House official who was not permitted to talk publicly and insisted on anonymity, Trump has waived executive privilege for eight former Biden administration officials, including Bernal, to testify before Congress, bolstering the GOP investigation.
Now that the privilege has been removed, former employees can talk about their experiences with Biden during his presidency.
Along with Bernal, Biden White House senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn, former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, former president Steve Ricchetti’s counselor, former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini, and a former president’s assistant, Ashley Williams, have also been granted executive privilege waivers. Comer wants to interview everyone of them.
The investigation into Biden’s mental health has been written off by Democrats as a partisan diversion from more important problems.
The interview with Tanden was a remarkable waste of time and yielded no new evidence, according to Rep. Wesley Bell, a Democrat from Missouri who serves on the Oversight committee.
Bell stated that instead of digging up some sort of post-impeachment or whatever we’re doing here, lawmakers should concentrate on matters like the price of food, housing, and possible changes to healthcare legislation.
Related Articles
-
Trump administration expands military s role at the border to the southern tip of Texas
-
NYC Mayor Eric Adams kicks off reelection bid and casts Mamdani as having a silver spoon
-
A purpose in this world : Older adults fear elimination of program that helps them find work
-
Longest-serving woman in Congress says she s not stopping anytime soon
-
Trump officials give their first classified briefing to Congress on the Iran strikes
There are important political and policy ramifications to the ongoing probe. Republican senators have contended that if Biden were somehow incapacitated or not in a sound state of mind while in office, any executive actions or policies implemented through the autopen mechanism may be declared illegitimate.
Without providing proof, Trump and his supporters have asserted that Biden was unaware of the steps his administration had taken on a number of areas, such as labor rights, environmental policy, and presidential pardons.
Numerous executive orders issued during Biden’s administration might be affected by a move to revoke such moves, which would almost definitely be subject to judicial scrutiny and a legal struggle.
Comer posted on social media, “Let this subpoena clear Biden’s inner circle: We will do whatever it takes to reveal the truth about Joe Biden’s decline (and) unauthorized use of the autopen.”
Biden claimed to be in complete control of his presidency a few weeks ago.
To be clear, I made the choices while I was president. According to a statement from the former president, I decided what pardons, executive orders, laws, and proclamations to issue. Any claim that I didn’t is untrue and absurd.
This month, Trump ordered his administration to look into Biden’s activities while in office, claiming that aides conspired to conceal Biden’s mental illness. Republicans in the Senate have also started their own investigations.
In the final months of the Biden administration, we must know who was in charge. Was it his chief of staff, his wife, or unnamed others? Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, stated during a hearing in June that none of these individuals were chosen by the American people and that neither the Constitution nor US law gave them the authority to perform the president’s duties.
This article was written by Darlene Superville of the Associated Press.
