WASHINGTON — House Republicans are considering summoning former First Lady Jill Biden and other members of President Joe Biden’s family to testify about his cognitive decline while in office. This comes after former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini became the third key aide to invoke the Fifth Amendment.
“There is a clear pattern emerging of Biden insiders protecting themselves from potential criminal charges related to this possible conspiracy,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said Friday. Tomasini refused to answer whether the White House instructed her to lie about the president’s health, citing her Fifth Amendment rights.
Comer added that Tomasini also pleaded the Fifth when questioned about advising President Biden on classified documents found in his garage, whether anyone in the White House told her to hide or destroy classified materials at Biden’s home or office, and if she conspired with anyone to conceal information about the Biden family’s business dealings.
“It’s clear they prefer to cover up critical details to shield themselves and Joe Biden rather than be honest with the American public about this unprecedented scandal,” Comer said.
Additionally, Jill Biden’s former chief of staff, Anthony Bernal, invoked the Fifth Amendment during a House Oversight hearing on Wednesday. Afterward, Comer told Fox News that the likelihood of summoning Jill Biden for questioning had “increased significantly.”
Former President Joe Biden (left) and Annie Tomasini stroll on the South Lawn on April 19, 2024.
“So the key question remains: Was Jill Biden the one making decisions while Joe Biden was incapacitated?”
“There’s a strong likelihood we’ll be calling family members to testify,” Comer said again on Friday.
Last week, Biden’s personal doctor, Kevin O’Connor, also invoked the Fifth Amendment.
Former President Biden and his wife, Jill, attend Pope Francis’ funeral.
Special Counsel Robert Hur concluded in a February 2024 report that the former president “willfully” kept classified documents from his time as vice president. However, he decided not to file charges partly because a jury would likely see Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”
Tomasini was among the first Biden aides sent in March 2021 to catalog documents at the Penn Biden Center, where some of the sensitive files were eventually discovered by his legal team and handed over to authorities.
The panel’s investigation also aims to uncover possible abuses of the presidential autopen—a mechanical device that Biden’s White House confirmed was used to issue final pardons for family members.
Former White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, who was asked to appear for a transcribed interview with Oversight Committee members and staff on Thursday, had approved those preemptive pardons in a January 19 email, according to The New York Times.
Bernal declined to answer when questioned about whether he ever advised President Joe Biden to pardon his son, Hunter Biden.
Tomasini started her career as a press secretary for then-Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.) during his tenure as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the 2000s.
She initially agreed to testify before the Oversight panel voluntarily but reversed her decision earlier this week. Her attorney has since requested a subpoena to compel her appearance before the committee.
Tomasini, Bernal, Jill Biden, and former special assistant Ashley Williams all helped shield the president from public scrutiny in what some have called operation “Bubble Wrap.”
On Thursday, Oversight Republicans announced that the investigation into Biden’s decline and the use of the autopen will proceed with a new round of hearings.
Four more members of Biden’s inner circle—including former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre—have been invited to participate in a series of voluntary transcribed interviews scheduled for August and September.
Ian Sams, a former spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, will be the first to testify before the committee on August 21.
Andrew Bates, who served as Biden’s deputy press secretary, is scheduled to appear on September 5.
Karine Jean-Pierre, who fell out of favor in Biden’s circle after announcing a forthcoming book and her switch to independent status in June, is set to testify on September 12.
Jeff Zients will be interviewed on September 18.
Additional members of the president’s inner circle will also be questioned, including former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, who is scheduled to appear on Tuesday.
“We’re bringing in everyone and moving up the chain,” Comer said. “We began with lower-level staffers who likely handled the documents and operated the autopen. Now we’re focusing on those who instructed the staffers to use the autopen.
“So, we’ll see where this leads us.”
