Three key Biden aides are dodging questions about an alleged cover-up of the former president’s mental decline, hiding behind the Fifth Amendment like it’s a get-out-of-jail-free card. Annie Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, and Dr. Kevin O’Connor, all close to Joe Biden, refused to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Their silence is raising eyebrows and fueling suspicions of a deeper scandal, with a grant of immunity potentially in the offing, as Just the News reports.
The committee is probing claims of an orchestrated effort to conceal Biden’s mental fitness issues, which dogged his 2020 campaign and lingered throughout his presidency. Questions swirl about unauthorized executive actions, like sweeping pardons, that may have been issued under dubious circumstances. It’s a mess that smells like a progressive power grab gone wrong.
Tomasini, once Biden’s assistant and deputy director of Oval Office Operations, clammed up during her deposition. Bernal, former chief of staff to Jill Biden, followed suit, as did Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s White House physician. Their collective refusal to talk suggests they’re protecting something -- or someone.
Committee chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) didn’t mince words, pointing to a “pattern” of witnesses “seeking to shield themselves from criminal liability.” His committee is fed up with the stonewalling and is now mulling immunity deals to force answers. If these aides know something, Comer wants it on the record, not buried in woke silence.
Legal scholar John Shu explained that granting immunity could strip witnesses of their Fifth Amendment excuse, as “you can’t be prosecuted” once protected. But Shu also noted that even with immunity, witnesses might fear implicating themselves in a broader conspiracy. That’s a polite way of saying they’re scared of spilling the beans on a potential White House scheme.
“Those witnesses will still want to avoid any kind of self-incrimination,” Shu said, hinting they might have been part of something shady, even if not directly criminal. No one’s been charged yet, but the committee’s digging suggests they’re not ruling it out. The stench of a cover-up is hard to ignore.
Concerns about Biden’s mental sharpness aren’t new -- they shadowed him before the 2020 race and never let up. The White House kept insisting that Biden was fit as a fiddle, touting regular medical exams that painted him as the picture of health. But skeptics, including many conservatives, aren’t buying the rosy narrative.
In early June, Comer’s committee ramped up its probe into what they call a “cover-up” of Biden’s “mental decline.” They sent letters to five former senior aides, demanding transcribed interviews to get to the bottom of things. The progressive spin machine can’t dodge this one forever.
A bombshell claim from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s book Original Sin alleges “five people were running the country,” with Biden merely a “senior member of the board.” That’s a polite way of saying the president was a figurehead while unelected aides pulled the strings. If true, it’s a scandal that undermines the very idea of accountable governance.
The committee’s push for immunity could be a game-changer, forcing Tomasini, Bernal, and O’Connor to talk or face contempt. Unlike Trump allies Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon, who were jailed for defying a House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 riots, these aides haven’t claimed executive privilege. Biden waived that privilege for Navarro and Bannon, leaving them exposed, so why the Fifth now?
Shu pointed out that “executive privilege goes with the office, not the president,” meaning Biden’s team can’t hide behind it either. “Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal know that,” he said, explaining their pivot to the Fifth. It’s a clever dodge, but it only deepens the suspicion of a cover-up.
The committee has also called Karine Jean-Pierre, Ian Sams, Andrew Bates, and Jeff Zients to testify. These former Biden insiders, from press secretary to chief of staff, are now in the hot seat. Their testimony could either clear the air or fan the flames of this growing controversy.
The investigation isn’t just about Biden’s health -- it is probing whether his administration issued unauthorized pardons or other executive actions. Such moves, if proven, would be a blatant abuse of power, sidestepping the checks and balances conservatives hold dear. The progressive elite’s disdain for transparency is on full display here.
Comer’s committee is determined to uncover who was calling the shots in Biden’s White House. Was it a cabal of aides, as Tapper and Thompson suggest, or just a president struggling to lead? The truth matters, especially when trust in government is already razor-thin.
As the committee weighs immunity deals, the nation watches to see if Biden’s inner circle will crack under pressure. The refusal to testify only fuels the narrative of a White House desperate to hide its dysfunction. For conservatives, this is a fight for accountability against a woke establishment that is long overdue for a reckoning.
