House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., issued a subpoena to have former President Joe Biden’s deputy chief of staff appear before the committee on Friday to provide testimony regarding her former boss’s mental state while serving in the Oval Office.
Comer, who leads the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent interview requests to four key Biden White House aides, including former assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini.
The former assistant’s voluntary appearance was requested on May 22, 2025, and it was scheduled for her to appear before the committee on July 18, or this Friday.
For unknown reasons, though, Tomasini’s counsel requested Comer issue a subpoena to compel her to appear.
Comer broke down the events leading up to the subpoena in his letter to Tomasini, before directing her to the bottom of the letter for the legal request.
‘The Committee seeks information about your assessment of and relationship with former President Biden to explore whether the time has come for Congress to revisit potential legislation to address the oversight of presidents’ fitness to serve pursuant to its authority under Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, or to propose changes to the Twenty-Fifth Amendment itself,’ Comer wrote in the subpoena.
‘The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the principal oversight committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate ‘any matter’ at ‘any time’ under House Rule X,’ he continued. ‘Further, House Rule XI clause 2(m)(1)(B) grants Committees of the House of Representatives the authority ‘to require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents as it considers necessary.’’
Comer added that should Tomasini have any questions, she should call the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Majority staff.
The chair previously told Fox News that these ‘unelected bureaucrats’ had an overwhelming influence over Biden and were possibly serving as ‘de facto’ presidents in his stead.’
Along with Tomasini, the committee sent interview requests to former director of the Domestic Policy Council Neera Tanden, former senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal and former deputy director of Oval Office operations Ashley Williams.
Bernal was also subpoenaed after refusing to voluntarily appear before the committee.
Williams and Tanden have already been interviewed by committee members.
The GOP effort to uncover the truth of what went on behind closed doors during the Biden administration comes shortly after the release of ‘Original Sin’ by CNN host Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson, which claims that the Biden White House was going all out trying to control the perception of the aging president’s failing health. The book exposes the cover-up of Biden’s decline and his decision to run for re-election.
Tapper said during an interview with Piers Morgan last month that what Biden’s aides did to hide his condition from the public could be ‘even worse’ than the Watergate scandal during Richard Nixon’s presidency.
‘It is a scandal. It is without question, and maybe even worse than Watergate in some ways,’ Tapper said. ‘The only reason we invoke Watergate is just to make clear like, it’s not Watergate — this is an entirely separate scandal, maybe even worse.’
In his letters, Comer said that while the committee has been investigating the cover-up for nearly a year, ‘newfound details regarding President Biden’s obvious decline demand renewed scrutiny of White House personnel actions and knowledge of relevant information over the course of the prior administration.’
Comer said the committee is seeking ‘to understand who made key decisions and exercised the powers of the executive branch during the Biden Administration.’
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
