• House Republicans investigating President Biden’s mental decline face a wall of silence as key witnesses invoke the Fifth Amendment. Legal scholars argue that congressional immunity could compel testimony, particularly as new revelations challenge the former administration’s narrative of transparency, mental acuity, and executive legitimacy.

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into President Biden’s cognitive capacity has entered a new and uncertain phase, as three close aides to the former president have invoked their Fifth Amendment rights during recent depositions—raising both legal questions and public suspicions.

The witnesses—Annie Tomasini, a longtime Biden aide; Anthony Bernal, Jill Biden’s chief of staff; and Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s personal physician—have each declined to answer questions under oath, citing potential self-incrimination. Their coordinated silence has prompted the committee’s chairman, Representative James Comer of Kentucky, to suggest a more aggressive legal course may be necessary.

A Legal Remedy With Precedent

Attorney and constitutional scholar John Shu observes that Congress holds the power to grant immunity to witnesses, thereby compelling testimony that would otherwise be shielded by the Fifth Amendment.

“Both the DOJ and Congress have been known to grant immunity,” Shu told Just the News. “It would prevent witnesses from asserting the Fifth Amendment, because once you have immunity you can’t be prosecuted.”

While no criminal charges have yet been brought against Tomasini, Bernal, or Dr. O’Connor, their invocation of the Fifth signals potential exposure—whether direct or by association—in what Comer described as a “pattern…seeking to shield themselves from criminal liability.”

“Those witnesses will still want to avoid any kind of self-incrimination,” Shu explained, “even if they themselves didn’t commit a crime, because they may have been part of a conspiracy to commit a crime or they may have lied in some other setting.”

Executive Privilege, or Political Calculus?

The witnesses’ legal maneuvering may also reflect strategic caution. According to Shu, executive privilege—once seen as a bulwark against Congressional inquiry—may no longer provide shelter.

“Executive privilege goes with the office, not the president,” Shu remarked. “What goes around, comes around.”

When President Trump waived executive privilege for his own former aides during the January 6 investigation—resulting in the imprisonment of Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon—he simultaneously laid the groundwork for his administration to override privilege for Biden-era officials. In effect, Trump’s decision left current Biden aides with fewer legal defenses than they might have anticipated.

“Tomasini and Bernal know that,” Shu added. “That’s partially why they didn’t assert executive privilege and instead pled the Fifth, because Trump waived their privilege.”

Mounting Evidence and Public Doubt

The committee’s inquiry into President Biden’s mental acuity is not merely speculative. Questions about Biden’s cognitive health predate his presidency and have persisted in conservative circles, often dismissed by the White House as partisan conjecture.

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Yet recent reports—particularly from CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios alum Alex Thompson in their book Original Sin—have reignited concern.

Comer cited the book’s assertion that “Five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board.”

If accurate, the account suggests a figurehead presidency managed behind the scenes by unelected aides—an arrangement that offends the constitutional sensibility of even the most temperate observers.

A Broader Net Cast

In June, Comer’s committee expanded its probe into what it characterizes as a “cover-up” of Biden’s decline. Letters were dispatched to five additional former White House officials demanding transcribed interviews. Among them: press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, senior advisor Ian Sams, deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, and chief of staff Jeff Zients.

The committee is also investigating whether certain executive actions and pardons were carried out by aides without Biden’s informed consent—raising serious constitutional and procedural alarms.

Should immunity be granted, and testimony compelled, the public may finally gain insight into the true extent of the president’s involvement—or detachment—from executive decision-making.

Transparency or Stonewalling?

For now, the Biden camp appears to be betting on silence. But as Comer continues to press forward, bolstered by mounting circumstantial evidence and expert opinion, that strategy may prove politically untenable.

At the heart of the matter lies a fundamental constitutional question: If the president is not fit to execute the office, who truly governs?

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