WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas Wednesday to three White House aides, requesting testimony to discuss President Joe Biden’s cognitive status.
The subpoenas, first reported by Axios, were addressed to Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser to First Lady Jill Biden, White House deputy chief of staff Annie Tommasini and senior White House adviser Ashley Williams.
The letter attached to the subpoena stated that the aides “have direct knowledge of the extent to which President Biden is personally performing his duties and his ability to do so.”
“The Committee is seeking this information in order to consider whether it is time for Congress to reconsider possible legislation to address oversight of the President’s fitness to serve, pursuant to its authority under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the letter said.
The committee’s chairman, Republican Senator James Comer of Kentucky, said the committee was concerned the aides were “acting disruptively on behalf of the president and potentially performing some of the president’s duties.”
“President Biden is clearly unfit for office, yet his staff is trying to hide the truth from the American people,” he added.
Asked for comment, White House spokesman Ian Sams criticized Comer and called the subpoena a “baseless political ploy to gain media attention rather than conduct legitimate oversight.”
“His partisan attacks on the president have been discredited, and now, instead of seeking information through the proper constitutional process, he continues to degrade the integrity of the House by weaponizing subpoenas for headline-grabbing purposes,” Sams said in a statement.
Comer, a frequent critic of Biden, was at the center of the Republican-led impeachment inquiry into the president. Evidence that Biden engaged in criminal activity.
The three aides had previously been asked to appear before the committee as part of its investigation into Biden’s classified documents, but the committee said the White House blocked their appearances.
The committee asked the aides to respond by July 17 to discuss the depositions.
