Anthony Bernal, who was an aide to former 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 lawyer 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 to take place.
He was subpoenaed to appear as part of the House probe into Biden aides who allegedly covered up his mental decline while in office and may have acted on his behalf using the presidential autopen.
“Unfortunately, that was quick,” said Oversight 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’ve allowed them to withhold some information.
Ahead of the scheduled transcribed interview, Mr. Comer told reporters that the committee wanted to understand who authorized the use of the autopen. GOP lawmakers have argued that some pardons and executive orders signed by the autopen instead of Mr. Biden himself 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 Joe Biden fit to exercise the duties of the president, and did any unelected official or family member execute the duties of the presidency?
He pleaded the Fifth to both questions.
“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, 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,” said Mr. Donalds, Florida Republican.
He said more people should be brought in for transcribed interviews, including Mrs. Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Mr. Comer stopped short of agreeing with Mr. Donalds, but said “every option’s on the table” and that they should’ve already issued statements on the matter.
“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 keep invoking their Fifth Amendment rights, Mr. Comer said there are “other options on the table.”
Over a dozen former Biden staffers are scheduled to come in 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 in her role to direct the use of the autopen.
She testified that she had “minimal interaction” with Mr. Biden regarding the mechanical signature, but said she followed protocol for receiving approval for its use from Mr. Biden’s top aides.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Texas Democrat and member of the Oversight panel, was also present for the transcribed interview Wednesday, but didn’t comment after it was over. 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 his 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 it’s clear Mr. Biden was not in charge for the full four years of his administration, saying Mr. Biden would not have left the border open to millions of illegal immigrants.
He said later Wednesday that the 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.”
