A top aide to former first lady Jill Biden refused to answer GOP investigators' questions on Wednesday as the House Oversight Committee probes whether senior ex-White House aides covered up signs of former President Joe Biden's mental decline. Anthony Bernal, former assistant to the president and senior advisor to the first lady, was compelled for a July 16 closed-door deposition after missing a previously agreed-upon interview date late last month. His scheduled sit-down came and went quickly, however. Bernal apparently pleaded the Fifth Amendment to the questions asked by House staffers -- House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., quickly confirmed Bernal invoked his right against self-incrimination in comments to reporters alongside committee member Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who was also present. -- Both criticized Bernal and his lawyer for arguing the Fifth Amendment was not an admission of guilt, and Comer told reporters "all options are on the table" when asked whether the former president himself should be brought in. "We're gonna continue our investigation. I think that the American people are concerned," Comer said. A follow-up statement by Comer said, "During his deposition today, Mr. Bernal pleaded the Fifth when asked if any unelected official or family members executed the duties of the President and if Joe Biden ever instructed him to lie about his health." -- Donalds, however, called for House investigators to aggressively pursue their leads. "The chairman is being nice. I don't have to be. This is corruption at the highest level, because if you cannot, say, answer a simple question about Joe Biden's capabilities, then that further demonstrates that he was not in charge of his administration," Donalds said. "And if he was not in charge of his administration, then every order, every bill that was signed, every memorandum, as far as I'm concerned, are null and void." -- Bernal was originally slated to appear last month for a voluntary transcribed interview, but he and his lawyers backtracked after the Trump administration announced it was waiving executive privilege rights for him and several other former White House staffers. "Now that the White House has waived executive privilege, it’s abundantly clear that Anthony Bernal – Jill Biden’s so-called ‘work husband’ – never intended to be transparent about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and the ensuing cover-up," Comer said in late June. -- He's now the second former Biden administration staffer to invoke the Fifth Amendment after ex-White House physician Kevin O'Connor did so last week. O'Connor's deposition lasted less than 30 minutes, with the doctor refusing to answer any questions after his name. --https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jill-biden-work-husband-pleads-fifth-amendment-dodges-house-gop-cover-up-probe-questions
