Annie Tomasini, former deputy chief of staff and assistant to President Joe Biden, declined on July 18 to answer questions from the House Oversight Committee about Biden’s health and fitness to serve while in office.
She is the third former Biden official to invoke the Fifth Amendment.
When asked whether she was instructed to cover up alleged health issues of the former president, Tomasini refused to answer, according to the committee’s chairman, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.).
She also declined to answer questions about Biden’s handling of classified documents, which were discovered in his garage in Delaware, and whether “President Biden or anyone in the White House instructed her to conceal or destroy classified material found at President Biden’s home or office,” said Comer.
Biden was investigated by a special counsel over the issue but was not criminally charged.
Tomasini also pleaded the Fifth when asked “if she ever conspired with anyone in the White House to hide information regarding the Biden family’s ‘business’ dealings,” according to Comer.
The committee in the previous Congress investigated Biden’s business dealings abroad, especially as they related to business conducted by the president’s son, Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
“Given public reporting that former White House staff ‘aggressively stage-managed’ the former president and focused on minute details to ’minimize signs of how age has taken a toll on the oldest president in U.S. history,' the committee seeks to understand 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,” Comer wrote in the letter.
The committee asked her to testify on Oct. 11, 2023, and subpoenaed her for a deposition on July 10, 2024, but the Biden White House blocked her.
Along with Tomasini, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, Biden’s physician, and Anthony Bernal, who was chief of staff to former first lady Jill Biden, pleaded the Fifth before the committee about the state of Biden’s health while in office.
“It’s unbelievable that Ms. Tomasini and others refuse to answer basic questions about President Biden’s fitness to serve,” said Comer.
“It’s apparent they would rather hide key information to protect themselves and Joe Biden than be truthful with the American people about this historic scandal. There needs to be transparency and accountability, and we will continue to pursue the truth and examine options to get the answers we need.”
