Top Jill Biden Aide Pleads the Fifth in House Probe Into Alleged Cover-Up of Ex-President’s Health

Anthony Bernal, a longtime senior aide to former First Lady Jill Biden, refused to answer questions from House GOP investigators on Wednesday, pleading the Fifth Amendment during a closed-door deposition as part of an ongoing probe into whether top White House officials concealed signs of President Joe Biden’s mental decline while in office.

Bernal, who served as a senior advisor to the First Lady and an assistant to the president, was compelled to testify before the House Oversight Committee after skipping a previously scheduled voluntary interview in June. But according to committee members and sources familiar with the deposition, the session ended quickly after Bernal invoked his right against self-incrimination.

House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) confirmed the move in remarks to reporters alongside committee member Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.). Comer said Bernal declined to answer questions, including whether unelected officials or family members carried out presidential duties in Biden’s place, and whether the president ever asked Bernal to lie about his health.

“During his deposition today, Mr. Bernal pleaded the Fifth when asked if any unelected official or family members executed the duties of the President and if Joe Biden ever instructed him to lie about his health,” Comer said in a follow-up statement. “We’re gonna continue our investigation. I think that the American people are concerned.”

Bernal’s legal team reportedly argued that invoking the Fifth Amendment was not an admission of guilt—a claim that both Comer and Donalds rejected. Comer warned that “all options are on the table” when asked if the committee could move to compel testimony from President Biden himself.

Donalds was more blunt.

“This is corruption at the highest level,” he said. “If you cannot answer a simple question about Joe Biden’s capabilities, then that further demonstrates that he was not in charge of his administration. And if he wasn’t, then every order, every bill, every memo—null and void.”

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett, also present at the deposition, offered a different take. When asked by reporters how the session went, she replied, “Fine. They’re still losers.”

The investigation, led by Comer, is looking into claims that Biden’s top aides may have hidden evidence of the president’s cognitive or physical decline while he was in office. The probe also includes questions about whether executive actions were signed by autopen without Biden’s full knowledge or consent—claims the White House and Biden allies have repeatedly denied.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Biden pushed back, saying, “I made every decision on my own.”

Bernal, a longtime confidant of Jill Biden, has been described as fiercely loyal and protective. A recent book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson dubbed him the leader of the “loyalty police” in Biden’s inner circle. His LinkedIn still lists him as chief of staff to the former First Lady in the Biden Transition Office.

He becomes the second former Biden administration official to plead the Fifth before the committee, following former White House physician Kevin O’Connor, whose own deposition last week reportedly lasted under 30 minutes after he declined to answer any questions.

With input from Fox News