Joe Biden‘s former deputy chief of staff and senior advisor Annie Tomasini repeatedly refused to answer questions and pleaded the fifth during an interview with lawmakers, making her the third Biden aide to do so.
Tomasini invoked her right to remain silent and avoid incrimination during her closed-door interview with the Republican-led House Oversight Committee on Friday.
The committee has been probing the extent of the Democratic president’s mental decline was understood by his top staffers.
The investigation has focused on former staffers who would be privy to the most sensitive presidential discussions, and even those who may have operated the autopen.
Tomasini’s interview lasted less than an hour and videos show she did not answer any reporter questions on her way in or out of the private session.
She has become the third former staffer of Biden to invoke their right to silence in the Oversight investigation.
Joe Biden’s personal physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, and Jill Biden’s longtime aide Anthony Bernal, also pleaded the fifth amendment protections in recent weeks.
Oversight Chairman James Comer noted that there’s a pattern beginning to emerge as the Biden aides stonewall the investigators.
Ex-President Joe Biden, left, and Annie Tomasini, deputy chief of staff, walk on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, April 19, 2024
The House Oversight Committee is investigating Biden’s mental decline
‘There is now a pattern of key Biden confidants seeking to shield themselves from criminal liability for this potential conspiracy,’ Comer wrote.
‘Annie Tomasini, former Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations, pleaded the Fifth when asked if Joe Biden, a member of his family, or anyone at the White House instructed her to lie regarding his health at any time.’
She also pleaded the fifth when asked about classified documents being found in Biden’s garage, if the former president instructed anyone to destroy or conceal classified documents at the Democrat’s home or if she’s conspired with anyone to hide information on the Biden family’s business affairs, Comer shared.
The Kentucky Republican said this is a ‘historical scandal.’
Last week, Comer accused O’Connor of a conspiracy to ‘cover up’ Biden’s cognitive decline.
O’Connor cited patient privilege as his reason for pleading the fifth.
His lawyer, ahead of his testimony, expressed concern about what O’Connor would be able to say without violating doctor-patient confidentiality laws.
Tomasini pleaded the fifth when pressed by Congress about Biden’s health
David Schertler, O’Connor’s attorney, said in a statement that the doctor ‘asserted the physician-patient privilege, as well as his right under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in declining to answer questions from the staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding his service as Physician to the President during the Biden Administration.’
The physician was in charge of Biden’s annual physical and repeatedly deemed Biden fit to hold office.
Republicans charge the former president’s inner circle engaged in a conspiracy to hide cognitive decline.
Ahead of O’Connor’s closed door sit-down, President Donald Trump’s administration waived his ability to exert executive privilege, saying he needed to talk to Congress.
A letter sent to him by the White House – obtained by the Daily Mail – informed him he did not have ‘executive privilege’ in the matter.
