Former President Biden’s assistant Annie Tomasini refused to answer questions Friday during closed-door testimony about Biden’s mental acuity and handling of classified records while he was in office.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said Tomasini pleaded the Fifth when GOP lawmakers asked if anyone instructed her to lie about Biden’s health or if she assisted in concealing classified records found in Biden’s home.
“It’s unbelievable that Ms. Tomasini and others refuse to answer basic questions about President Biden’s fitness to serve,” Comer said in a statement. “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.”
Former first lady Jill Biden’s chief of staff Anthony Bernal and Kevin O’Connor, the former president’s longtime doctor, both pleaded the Fifth under similar questions from the committee earlier this month.
MEANWHILE…
President Trump on Friday will sign legislation rescinding $9 billion in previously approved government funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, after the clawbacks made the difficult journey through the GOP-controlled House and Senate.
“We’re gonna downsize the scope of government,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said after the vote. “Government is too large, it does too many things and it does almost nothing well.”
The big headline from the rescissions effort is that the government will cut off funds to PBS and NPR, which Republicans have long castigated as having a liberal agenda.
The White House plans to send further rescission requests to Congress, but those could be met by GOP opposition, as Republican senators warn the Executive Branch not to intrude on Congress’ power of the purse.
Democrats are already threatening a government shutdown in September over the clawbacks, saying there’s no point in passing bipartisan funding bills if Republicans will strip spending out of them in partisan votes further down the line.
Trump on Friday also signed the GENUIS Act, creating a framework to regulate digital assets — a big win for the crypto industry.
“We worked hard,” Trump said to cheers at the signing ceremony in the East Room.
Republican leaders struggled to keep their caucuses in line to pass both pieces of legislation, underscoring how chaos has become the norm in the GOP-led House, even in victory.
“I’m so tired of getting phone calls at two, three, four o’clock in the morning,” Trump quipped.
The Hill’s Emily Brooks writes:
“After uniting in stunning fashion earlier this month to pass the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill” and celebrating the win, Republicans plunged back into disarray this week when a cohort of hardline conservatives tanked a procedural vote over a trio of cryptocurrency bills, bringing the floor to a screeching halt. The intra-party dispute — complete with a public floor rebellion and record-setting vote, a White House visit and hours of closed-door negotiations — underscored that chaos is a mainstay of the razor-thin House GOP majority that not even Trump can stamp out.”
And The Hill’s Alexander Bolton writes that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the former Senate majority leader who is retiring next year, has become a wild card since ceding his leadership post.
“The crafty veteran senator has used high-profile dissenting votes and carefully timed statements to make his influence felt throughout the Senate GOP conference and to signal when he thinks Trump — and by extension, Trump’s allies in Congress — are moving in the wrong direction.”
McConnell this week voted against two critical procedural motions to advance the rescissions package.
