Exclusive: House Oversight subpoenas top Biden aides over his mental fitness
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The GOP-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed three senior White House aides Wednesday, demanding they sit for depositions regarding President Biden's health, according to letters obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: The subpoenas signal Republicans' desire to investigate whether some of Biden's closest aides essentially have hidden the 81-year-old president's true condition, in a probe that could drag through the Nov. 5 election.
- Since Biden's weak performance at the June 27 debate ignited questions about his candidacy, some Democrats — including administration officials — have been bracing for potential congressional probes into his mental fitness, and what aides know about it.
Driving the news: Oversight chair James Comer (R-Ky.) subpoenaed First Lady Jill Biden's top aide Anthony Bernal, deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini, and senior adviser Ashley Williams, according to the letters.
- All three are low-profile but very influential inside the White House, Biden officials have told Axios.
- Comer asked for the aides to respond by July 17 and requested they sit for closed-door interviews later this month.
- He also cited a recent Axios report about Bernal and Tomasini having access to the first family's residence — a situation that White House residence staff found unusual since political staffers often don't have such access.
What they're saying: In each letter, Comer writes that the committee is "concerned" that each official is "one of several White House staffers who have taken it upon themselves to run the country while the President cannot."
- In his letter to Bernal — whose influence extends well beyond the first lady's office — Comer wrote: The "Committee seeks to understand the extent of Mr. Bernal's influence over the President and his knowledge of whether the President is personally discharging the duties of his office."
- White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement: "Like everything Congressman Comer has done over the past year, these subpoenas are a baseless political stunt intended for him to get media attention instead of engage in legitimate oversight."
- "His 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."
Between the lines: Comer previously tried to interview Bernal, Tomasini, and Williams during his investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents. They previously had visited an office where classified documents were found.
- That issue also was investigated by the Justice Department and special counsel Robert Hur, who ultimately declined to press charges.
- The White House did not make any of the three aides available to Comer's committee at the time.
Zoom out: Comer recently helped lead an impeachment inquiry into Biden that included interviewing several members of the president's family.
- The inquiry ultimately fizzled out, however, and Biden wasn't impeached.
