House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is taking action to compel a top aide to former first lady Jill Biden to testify about the lengths Biden administration officials went to cover up former President Joe Biden’s mental decline.
Comer subpoenaed Jill Biden’s “work husband” Anthony Bernal Thursday after he abruptly refused to testify voluntarily despite agreeing to do so. Bernal was scheduled to appear for a closed-door interview Thursday until he reversed course once the Trump administration decided to waive executive privilege for Comer’s investigation.
“Given your close connection with both former President Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden, the Committee sought to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden’s fitness to serve from the American people,” Comer said in a letter accompanying the subpoena to Bernal.
Comer said the Oversight Committee accommodated Bernal by agreeing to his requested interview date and transmitting interview topics almost two weeks ahead of time, offering him a longer than normal preparation period.
“Yesterday, on June 25, your counsel informed the Committee that you were no longer willing to appear voluntarily for the transcribed interview on the agreed-upon date: today, June 26. To avoid any further delays, your appearance before the Committee is now compelled,” the letter adds.
Comer’s investigation is specifically focusing on the Biden administration’s use of the autopen to replicate the former president’s signature on official documents. Joe Biden has dismissed concerns about aides potentially using the autopen without his knowledge at the end of his term.
“I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” Biden previously said.
Bernal is one of four former senior Biden administration officials expected to testify in the coming weeks for Comer’s investigation. The first to testify was Neera Tanden, a longtime Democratic operative who spoke to the committee Tuesday. Comer said Tanden recounted hardly interacting with President Biden and sending memos to members of his inner circle for approval of autopen signatures.
In the bombshell book Original Sin, Bernal is painted as an enforcer of loyalty to the Bidens whom White House colleagues despised. Through his proximity to Jill Biden, Bernal became one of the most powerful officials in the Biden administration and sought to weed out insufficiently loyal staffers, according to the authors, Axios reporter Alex Thompson and CNN host Jake Tapper. Bernal was previously accused of workplace bullying and making inappropriate sexual comments at the White House and elsewhere.
Comer is also seeking testimony from the top aides inside Joe Biden’s “politburo” as described throughout Original Sin. Those aides were thought to be calling the shots inside the White House as the president’s mental faculties worsened.
In addition to Bernal, Comer has subpoenaed Joe Biden’s longtime physician and friend Dr. Kevin O’Connor to testify for the Oversight Committee’s investigation. O’Connor’s testimony could have an added layer of intrigue because of the former president’s “aggressive” prostate cancer diagnosis in May. O’Connor controversially gave Biden rave reviews in his 2024 physical and deemed him fit for the presidency.