House committee subpoenas Biden aides about extent of work

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability summoned three key White House staffers to depositions later this month. The staffers are running interference for President Biden while he declines mentally, according to a statement by the committee. The panel called Ashley Williams and Anthony Bernal, personal assistants to the president, along with Annie Tomasini, Biden’s deputy chief of staff. Depositions are scheduled to take place in about two weeks, from July 23-25. 

The committee’s statement linked to a report about a former Biden aide saying the trio forming a bubble around the president and protecting him. The same aide described Biden as losing nearly all independence from being closely staffed. Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., accused the aides of covering up the president’s declining cognitive state and mishandling classified documents. Biden’s staffers are trying to hide the truth from the American people, but the oversight committee will deliver the transparency and accountability Americans deserve, he wrote on social media.

Have any more lawmakers pulled support from Biden? Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., on Wednesday became the first senator to formally pull support from Biden with a Washington Post opinion column. Welch cited polling stats and constituent concerns to support the idea of Biden withdrawing from the race.

Meanwhile, Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., became the latest house member to call for Biden’s withdrawal. Biden is no longer the best candidate and must step aside for the good of the country, Ryan said on social media.

Longtime Biden backer George Clooney also formally pulled support from Biden with a New York Times op-ed. The Hollywood actor hosted a fundraiser for Biden credited by CNN as the single-largest in the Democratic Party’s history, raking in $28 million for his campaign. But Clooney wrote that Joe Biden at the fundraiser was not the same as he was in the 2020 election.

Dig deeper: Read my report on Democratic governors reaffirming support for Biden’s campaign after a closed-door meeting last week.