Jill Biden

June 26 (UPI) — Republican House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer on Thursday issued a subpoena to a former Jill Biden aide in his panel’s probe into Joe Biden‘s mental health.

The subpoena targeted Anthony Bernal, a former assistant to the president and senior adviser to the former first lady, calling for him to appear for a deposition on July 16 as part of Comer’s probe into what his press announcement called “the cover-up of President Joe Biden’s mental decline and potentially unauthorized executive actions.”

Comer’s announcement on the subpoena said Bernal was reportedly so close to the former first lady that he was referred to as her “work husband.”

A day earlier, Bernal had notified Comer’s panel that he would not take part in its requested interview. Comer on Thursday said that Bernal previously had confirmed that he would appear “for a voluntary transcribed interview” on Thursday. However, Comer said, the White House Counsel’s office informed Bernal that it was waiving executive privilege for the committee’s investigation. At that, Bernal refused to appear.

In a subpoena cover letter, Comer said, in part, to Bernal that “the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform requested that you — because of your role as a senior aide to former President Joe Biden — appear for a transcribed interview on June 11, 2025, broadly regarding ‘the extent of your influence over the former President and your knowledge of whether the former President was personally discharging the duties of his office.’

“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,” the letter continued. “You have refused the Committee’s request. However, to advance the Committee’s oversight and legislative responsibilities and interests, your testimony is critical. Accordingly, please see the attached subpoena for testimony at a deposition on July 16, 2025.”

Bernal was one of the sources cited in Jake Tapper’s book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. That book also has been referenced by Comer in his panel’s investigation into Joe Biden’s mental health.

In May, Comer announced his investigation, citing general concerns about Biden’s age and mental capacity after the president’s troubled performances and missteps on the campaign trail, which eventually resulted in Joe Biden withdrawing from his presidential run.

Comer’s investigation also launched as renewed interest in Biden’s health erupted after the former president announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into Joe Biden’s cognitive state, alleging that White House aides covered up his mental decline.

May 23 (UPI) — The GOP-led House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has called on President Joe Biden‘s physician and former White House aides to sit for interviews as it investigates an alleged cover-up of the former president’s health.

“The cover-up of President Biden’s obvious mental decline is a historic scandal,” Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement Thursday. “The American people deserve to know why this decline began, how far it progressed and who was making critical decisions on his behalf.”

Concerns about Biden’s age and mental capacity plagued his re-election campaign and the perception of his fitness for office, following a poor showing at a debate against Donald Trump in June, led to his eventual withdrawal from the race.

In the past week, there has been renewed interest in Biden’s health after he announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and the publication of books that allege his mental capacity while in office had diminished since his election.

Allegations and conspiracy theories have been made by President Donald Trump and Republicans that there was a Democratic coverup of Biden’s decline while in office and that someone else other than the 46th president was making decisions during his term in office.

Comer, who led a failed multiyear impeachment investigation into Biden and his family during the Biden administration, sent letters on Thursday to Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician and longtime family friend, and four of his close aides, demanding they sit for transcribed interviews.

The four aides to receive letters from Comer are: Neera Tanden, former director of the Domestic Policy Council, Anthony Bernal; former assistant to the president and senior adviser to former first lady Jill Biden; Annie Tomasini, former assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff; and Ashley Williams, former special assistant to the president and deputy director of Oval Office operations.

In the letter to O’Connor, Comer wrote that the committee is “investigating the accuracy, transparency and credibility of your medical assessments” of Biden during his presidency, citing his February 2024 report that described then-president as “a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the president.”

“Further, the Committee remains interested in whether your financial relationship with the Biden family affected your assessment of former President Biden’s physical and mental fitness to fulfill his duties as president. Given your connections with the Biden family, the Committee seeks to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden’s fitness to serve from the American people.”

Biden announced his prostate cancer diagnosis on Sunday.

Trump — who has long attacked Biden over his border policies, often describing them as “Biden’s open borders” — did an about-face following his former political opponent’s cancer announcement and shifted blame to those in Biden’s inner circle whom he now accuses of being behind the alleged cover-up.

“Joe Biden was not for Open Borders, he never talked about Open Borders … it wasn’t his idea to Open the Border, and almost destroy our Country … It was the people that knew he was cognitively impaired and that took over the Autopen,” Trump said on his Truth Social media platform.

“This is TREASON at the Highest Level!”

Comer said he wants responses to his letters by May 29 and is seeking to schedule interviews between June 2 and 25.