The House Oversight Committee released footage of former Biden aide Annie Tomasini hours after she repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment during her deposition Friday morning.
Tomasini was appearing before the House Oversight Committee as a witness in its investigation into the Biden administration’s use of the autopen, where she invoked her constitutional right against self-incrimination multiple times, according to an 18-minute video recording.
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Committee investigators pressed Tomasini on former President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents in his garage, hiding family business deals, and his health.
“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer the question pursuant to my Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution,” Tomasini repeatedly answered.
Jonathan Su, Tomasini’s lawyer, said Tomasini “served with distinction” at the White House and fulfilled her duty to the House Oversight Committee by showing up to the deposition.
“The law is clear that there is absolutely no basis to suggest an invocation of the Fifth Amendment is evidence of wrongdoing,” Su said at the deposition. “In Ohio v. Reiner, the U.S. Supreme Court explained that one of the Fifth Amendment’s basic functions is to protect innocent men who otherwise might be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances.”
Tomasini was an assistant and deputy chief of staff to the president during the Biden administration. Prior to Biden’s presidency, Tomasini worked for him in the Senate and his vice presidential office, and was the traveling chief of staff for his 2020 campaign, according to Legistorm.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) subpoenaed Tomasini Tuesday after her lawyers unexpectedly requested the subpoena for her to comply, as the committee already had a voluntary interview set for Friday.
This was not the first video to be released from the investigation of a witness who invoked their Fifth Amendment right. Former Biden aide Anthony Bernal and physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor invoked the Fifth Amendment when they appeared before the committee, and footage of both was released later in the afternoon following their interviews.
Transcribed interviews are expected to be released by the committee once the investigation concludes.
COMER EXPANDS BIDEN AUTOPEN INVESTIGATION WITH MORE WITNESS INTERVIEWS
The committee announced on July 17 that it had scheduled interviews with four more former Biden officials, including: former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Adviser in the White House Counsel’s Office Ian Sams, former Deputy Assistant to Biden and Senior Deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and chief of staff Jeff Zients.
Sams is set to appear on Aug. 21, Bates on Sept. 5, Jean-Pierre on Sept. 12, and Zients on Sept. 18.