Anthony Bernal, who was an aide to President Biden and first lady Jill Biden, refused to answer questions Wednesday from House lawmakers investigating the alleged cover-up of Mr. Biden’s mental decline, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.
Mr. Bernal was Mrs. Biden’s chief of staff and “work husband.” He and his attorney refused to comment after leaving the room in the House office building where his transcribed interview with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was scheduled.
He was subpoenaed to appear as part of the House investigation into Biden aides who allegedly covered up his mental decline and may have acted on his behalf using the presidential autopen.
“Unfortunately, that was quick,” said Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican. “This is the second witness that we’ve brought in via subpoena for a deposition that has pleaded the Fifth and they’ve stated they’re not going to answer questions.”
Mr. Biden’s former physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights last week. The Trump administration has waived executive privilege for all the witnesses, which would have allowed them to withhold some information.
Before the scheduled transcribed interview, Mr. Comer told reporters that the committee wanted to understand who authorized the use of the autopen. Republican lawmakers have argued that some pardons and executive orders signed by the autopen instead of Mr. Biden could be void.
“We want to understand why it was used so many times. Why was it used when Joe Biden was in the White House? Did Joe Biden know who was using the autopen?” Mr. Comer asked.
Mr. Comer shared the two questions posed to Mr. Bernal: Was Mr. Biden fit to exercise the duties of the president, and did any unelected official or family member execute the duties of the presidency?
Mr. Bernal invoked the Fifth Amendment to both questions.
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Watch the moment Anthony Bernal takes the 5th at our deposition today.
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) July 16, 2025
• Did you advise President Biden to pardon Hunter?
- FIFTH!
• Was President Biden fit to exercise the duties of President?
- FIFTH!
• Did any unelected official or family member execute… pic.twitter.com/NmPQLwXrnl
“We’re going to continue our investigation. I think that the American people are concerned,” Mr. Comer said. “They’re concerned that there were people making decisions in the White House that were not only unelected but no one to this day knows who they were.”
Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Republican, who was in the room for the interview, said two witnesses hiding behind the Fifth Amendment “is not just shocking, it’s stunning, and it demonstrates the level of corruption that was going on in that administration.”
“The chairman is being nice. I don’t have to be. This is corruption at the highest level, because if you cannot, say, answer a simple question about Joe Biden’s capabilities, then that further demonstrates that he was not in charge of his administration,” Mr. Donalds said.
He said more people, including Mrs. Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, should appear for transcribed interviews.
Mr. Comer stopped short of agreeing with Mr. Donalds but said, “Every option is on the table” and that Mrs. Biden and Ms. Harris should have already issued public statements.
“The possibility is very good that we’ll be asking members of the family to come in,” he said.
When asked how the investigation would proceed if the witnesses continued to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights, Mr. Comer said there were “other options on the table.”
More than a dozen former Biden staffers are scheduled for transcribed interviews. Mr. Bernal was the third. The first was Neera Tanden, who served as staff secretary in the Biden White House. She was authorized to direct the use of the autopen in her role.
She testified that she had “minimal interaction” with Mr. Biden regarding the mechanical signature but followed protocol for approval from Mr. Biden’s top aides.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Texas Democrat and oversight panel member, didn’t comment after the transcribed interview. She said previously that invoking the Fifth Amendment was protection against the “rogue” Justice Department.
After questions multiplied over Mr. Biden’s use of the autopen, the former president issued a statement denying he had aides use the autopen to sign important documents without his knowledge.
“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency,” said Mr. Biden, 82. “I made the decisions about pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”
President Trump has argued that Mr. Biden was not in charge for the full four years of his administration. He said Mr. Biden would not have left the border open to millions of illegal immigrants.
He said later Wednesday that the Biden White House’s use of the autopen is “the biggest scandal.”
“That’s the scandal they should be talking about, not Jeffrey Epstein,” Mr. Trump said while meeting with the crown prince of Bahrain in the Oval Office. “The scandal you should be talking about is the autopen because I think it’s the biggest scandal, one of them, in American history.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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