House Oversight Committee Republicans are not ruling out potentially compelling former President Joe Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden to appear before Congress as part of an investigation into whether signs of Biden’s mental decline were covered up during his time in the White House.
‘Every option’s on the table. We’re going to try to get answers. We’re going to try to do this rapidly,’ House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters when asked if the former president could be brought in for questioning.
‘We’ll decide as a committee what steps to take next and who to bring in. But I think right now every option is on the table.’
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., was more forceful in his demands for more high-profile witnesses – noting he was speaking for himself, rather than the committee.
‘As far as I’m concerned, every member of the Biden administration at this point needs to be subpoenaed. I don’t care if they were a secretary. I don’t care if they were a janitor working in there. They’ve all got to come in and answer questions,’ Donalds said.
When asked if that meant the former first lady as well, Donalds responded, ‘Of course.’
He and Comer were both present for the closed-door deposition of Anthony Bernal, a longtime aide to Jill Biden who was subpoenaed in the Oversight Committee’s probe.
‘Her right-hand man – listen, Anthony Bernal was the right-hand man. That’s her guy, her chief of staff,’ Donalds said. ‘If he came in here and pleaded the fifth, I’m sorry, the former first lady, she’s got to come in here and answer questions.’
Comer is investigating allegations that Biden’s former top White House aides covered up signs of his mental and physical decline while in office, and whether any executive actions were commissioned via autopen without the president’s full knowledge. Biden allies have pushed back against those claims.
In an interview with The New York Times on Thursday, Biden affirmed he ‘made every decision’ on his own.
Bernal is the fourth former White House aide to sit for questioning in Comer’s Oversight probe. He and his lawyer left the committee room less than an hour after entering.
Comer and Donalds said Bernal argued that invoking the Fifth Amendment was not an admission of guilt, though the GOP lawmakers pushed back on the assertion.
Donalds said it was a ‘stunning’ move.
So far, three Biden aides have been subpoenaed in the investigation. Like Bernal, former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor invoked the Fifth Amendment. Former deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomascini was also subpoenaed at her lawyer’s request.