Jill Biden’s right-hand man declined to answer questions Wednesday about former President Joe Biden mental decline and his aides’s efforts to cover it up.
Anthony Bernal appeared before the House Oversight Committee behind closed doors and invoked his Fifth Amendment right rather than testify about Biden’s mental decline.
Bernal is known for being Jill Biden’s “work husband” and was considered one of the most powerful officials in the Biden administration. House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) subpoenaed Bernal to testify last month after Bernal abruptly backed out of a voluntary interview.
“This week new reporting confirms President Biden’s aides took unauthorized executive actions during his presidency amid his cognitive decline. It’s no surprise that Anthony Bernal is pleading the Fifth Amendment to shield himself from criminal liability,” Comer said.
“During his deposition today, Mr. Bernal pleaded the Fifth when asked if any unelected official or family members executed the duties of the President and if Joe Biden ever instructed him to lie about his health. This is a historic scandal and Americans demand transparency and accountability. We will continue to pursue the truth on their behalf and examine options to get the answers we need.”
In the bombshell book Original Sin by journalists Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper, Bernal is described as a deeply loyal Biden aide despised by White House colleagues. He has also been accused of workplace bullying and inappropriate conduct at the White House and other stops.
Comer is investigating the cover-up of Biden’s mental decline and whether Biden officials used the presidential autopen to make executive decisions without his knowledge, including presidential pardons.
Bernal is the second key witness to plead the Fifth after Biden’s physician and friend Kevin O’Connor did so last week. Another former senior Biden official, Annie Tomasini, is scheduled to testify for the investigation later this week. Comer has also scheduled interviews with several of Biden’s former top advisers over the next few weeks.
Biden recently told the New York Times he “made every decision” and accused Republicans of being “liars” for suggesting otherwise.
“I made every single one of those. And — including the categories, when we set this up to begin with,” Biden said.
“And so — but I understand why Trump would think that, because obviously, I guess, he doesn’t focus much. Anyway, so — yes, I made every decision.”
The Times also obtained a batch of emails from the National Archives showing the Biden administration’s process for sorting out pardons. Upon reviewing the emails, the Times found that Biden did not approve every individual name to be pardoned, but made decisions on the standards used to pardon certain individuals.