The Trump White House has opted not to grant executive privilege to nine former senior aides of Joe Biden, which will allow them to testify in a congressional investigation into the former president’s mental fitness for office and allegations that his staff covered up his cognitive decline.
According to a new report from Axios, people who will be required to provide testimony include Jill Biden’s adviser Anthony Bernal, Joe’s advisers Annie Tomasini, Ashley Williams, Neera Tanden, Mike Donilon, Anita Dunn, Ron Klain, Bruce Reed, and Steve Ricchetti.
The decision means the former aides must answer questions about their private conversations with Biden during closed-door interviews with the House Oversight Committee.
The aides could challenge the decision in court, as could Biden, but no such action has been reported at this time.
On Tuesday, the White House counsel’s office sent a letter to Tanden’s lawyers, which was obtained by Axios, stating that invoking executive privilege was not “in the national interest” due to the “exceptional circumstances” of the investigation.
“Evidence that aides to former President Biden concealed information regarding his fitness to exercise the powers of the President — and may have unconstitutionally exercised those powers themselves to aid in their concealment — implicates both Congress’ constitutional and legislative powers,” Trump’s deputy White House counsel, Gary Lawkowski, wrote in the letter.
The investigation is one of four Republican-led inquiries into the 82-year-old career politician’s fitness for office.
The committee has subpoenaed Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, after he declined a voluntary interview. He is expected to sit for a deposition as part of the probe.
In 2021, the Biden White House waived executive privilege for former Trump aides being investigated by the House select committee regarding the January 6 Capitol protest. The language in the letter to Tanden mirrors the reasoning used by Biden’s team at the time.
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