The Republican-led House Oversight Committee has issued subpoenas to three senior advisers. White House He called on aides to give depositions about President Biden’s mental state.
Fox News confirmed that the subpoenas included First Lady Jill Biden’s chief of staff, Anthony Bernal, deputy chief of staff Annie Tommasini and senior adviser Ashley Williams.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, called for accountability within the White House in a press release.
“Just as the White House has covered up three key aides testifying about President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, we now learn that these same aides are also trying within the White House to cover up President Biden’s declining cognitive abilities,” Comer said.
“President Biden is clearly unfit for office, yet his staff is trying to hide the truth from the American people,” he said.
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Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is demanding that White House aides give depositions about President Biden’s mental health. (Getty Images)
The Republican-led committee has alleged that Biden’s aides are engaged in “obstruction” on Biden’s behalf to prevent the 81-year-old president from facing investigation.
According to one former Biden staffer, First reported by AxiosBernal, Tommasini and Williams have created a “protective bubble” around Biden, saying it is “so densely packed with staff that Biden has completely lost his independence.”
The subpoenas, issued following Biden’s disastrous debate performance two weeks ago, are aimed at shedding light on the scope of the three aides’ work under the administration.
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The three subpoenas sent Wednesday express the committee’s concern that the president is unable to run the country while his top aides are.
“To be clear, the American people did not select Ms. Williams or any White House staff member to serve on President Biden’s behalf. The Committee seeks Ms. Williams’ testimony regarding the matters noted above,” Williams’ subpoena reads in part.
Images from Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation released by the Department of Justice showed President Biden carrying classified documents as he attended a National Security Council meeting that were later discovered in the garage of his Delaware home. (U.S. Department of Justice)
The committee also documented allegations that Biden’s senior staff, including Bernal, Tommasini and Williams, were involved in a scandal alleging the president’s mishandling of classified documents.
The oversight committee said a total of five White House officials and one Pentagon official were involved in “coordinating the organization, movement and removal of boxes later found to contain classified materials.”
Special Counsel Robert Hur, who began investigating Biden’s improper storage of classified records last year, closed his investigation in February.
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Hoare did not recommend criminal charges be filed against Biden for allegedly mishandling classified documents.
“We have concluded that criminal charges are not warranted in this matter,” the report said. “We would reach the same conclusion even if Department of Justice policy did not prohibit criminal charges against a sitting president.”
The special counsel also described Biden as a “caring, well-meaning elderly man with a limited memory.”
President Biden spoke at a campaign event in Atlanta. (Megan Varner/Getty Images/File)
In a statement to Fox News, White House spokesman for oversight and investigations Ian Sams called the subpoena a “baseless political ploy.”
“Like everything Rep. Comer has done over the past year, these subpoenas are a baseless political ploy designed to gain media attention rather than conduct legitimate oversight,” Sams said.
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“His partisan attacks on the president have been discredited, and now, instead of seeking information through the proper constitutional process, he continues to degrade the integrity of the House by weaponizing subpoenas to gain headlines,” he added.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and Comer for comment.
