{"id":2463456,"date":"2025-07-18T10:56:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-aide-annie-tomasini-uses-fifth-amendment-in-autopen-investigation\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T10:57:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:57:35","slug":"biden-aide-annie-tomasini-uses-fifth-amendment-in-autopen-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-aide-annie-tomasini-uses-fifth-amendment-in-autopen-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden aide Annie Tomasini uses Fifth Amendment in autopen investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-aide-annie-tomasini-uses-fifth-amendment-in-autopen-investigation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2463456&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Annie Tomasini, a longtime aide to president Joe Biden, invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a deposition held by the House Oversight Committee on July 18, 2025. The deposition is part of an ongoing investigation into the Biden governance&#8217;s use of the autopen-a device for replicating presidential signatures-particularly concerning clemency orders issued in the final days of Biden&#8217;s presidency. Tomasini, who has held multiple key roles for Biden over the years, arrived with her attorney but declined to answer questions and left after about 30 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation, led by the House Oversight Committee along with inquiries by the Justice Department and Senate, aims to determine Biden&#8217;s mental fitness to serve and whether his autopen signature was used appropriately. Tomasini is the third witness to plead the Fifth Amendment in this probe, following Biden&#8217;s former aides Anthony Bernal and physician Kevin O&#8217;Connor.<\/p>\n<p>Committee Chairman James Comer criticized the refusal of these witnesses to answer questions, suggesting a pattern of protecting the president and his family at the expense of openness. the impeachment-like inquiry involves several scheduled interviews with othre Biden aides,while transcripts of voluntary testimonies will be released after the investigation concludes. Simultaneously occurring,President Biden maintains he made all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/multiple-pardons-granted-by-autopen-without-bidens-approval\/\" title=\"Multiple Pardons Granted By Autopen Without ...s Approval\">clemency decisions personally<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Longtime Biden aide Annie Tomasini uses Fifth Amendment in House Oversight Committee autopen investigation<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2175505\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/BIDEN\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Biden<\/a> aide Annie Tomasini invoked her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/FIFTH-AMENDMENT\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Fifth Amendment<\/a> right against self-incrimination<strong> <\/strong>during a deposition on Friday as part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/house-oversight-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">House Oversight Committee<\/a>&rsquo;s investigation into the Biden administration&rsquo;s use of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/autopen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"autopen\">autopen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tomasini entered the Rayburn House Office Building hearing room around 9:54 a.m. with lawyer Jonathan Su, who was a deputy White House counsel to the former president.&nbsp;Tomasini evaded questions from reporters and exited the hearing room at 10:24&nbsp;a.m.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3475403\/trump-doge-cuts-house-johnson-gop-divisions-epstein-votes\/\">Trump&#8217;s $9 billion DOGE cuts pass House as Johnson tempers GOP divisions over Epstein votes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3475144\/republicans-biden-autopen-democrats-epstein-files\/\">GOP pivots to Biden autopen investigation for reprieve from Epstein firestorm<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance-and-economy\/3472164\/house-passes-crypto-week-legislation-after-republican-revolt\/\">House passes &#8216;crypto week&#8217; legislation after Republican revolt<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>During the Biden administration, Tomasini was an assistant and deputy chief of staff to the president. Prior to Biden&rsquo;s presidency, Tomasini worked for Biden in the Senate, in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/carson-points-out-that-every-democratic-plan-has-backfired-in-trumps-favor-as-seen-in-the-bible-2\/\" title=\"Carson points out that every Democratic plan has backfired in Trump&#039;s favor, as seen in the Bible\">vice president&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s office, and was the traveling chief of staff for Biden&rsquo;s 2020 campaign, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legistorm.com\/person\/bio\/61377\/AnnMarie_Tomasini.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Legistorm<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The House Oversight Committee&rsquo;s investigation, along with inquiries happening at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3474846\/trump-white-house-biden-autopen-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"White House counsel's office\">White House counsel&rsquo;s office<\/a>, the Justice Department, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3471837\/ron-johnson-biden-pardon-emails-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"White House counsel's office\">in the Senate<\/a>, will try to determine whether Biden was mentally capable of executing the duties of the presidency and authorizing the use of his autopen signature on a wave of pardon and commutation orders in the final days of his term.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">President Joe Biden aide Annie Tomasini at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington D.C. on July 18, 2025 for the Biden autopen investigation. She&rsquo;s with lawyer Jonathan Su. (Graeme Jennings\/Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>According to the book <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\"><em>Original Sin: President Biden&rsquo;s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again<\/em>,&nbsp;which outlines efforts by Biden&rsquo;s inner circle to shield his declining health from the public, Tomasini was intensely loyal to the Biden family and even moved to Wilmington, Delaware, during the COVID-19 pandemic,<\/span> along with former first lady Jill Biden&rsquo;s top aide, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3472329\/biden-aide-anthony-bernal-deposition-house-oversight-committee-autopen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Anthony Bernal\">Anthony Bernal<\/a>, giving them &ldquo;all-time access&rdquo; to the Bidens&rsquo; living quarters. Their allegiance was to the Biden family and not the presidency, according to authors Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3435968\/biden-autopen-use-dc-widespread\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BIDEN AUTOPEN USE IN DC WAS MORE WIDESPREAD THAN PREVIOUSLY KNOWN<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sources told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that Friday&rsquo;s deposition was brief because Tomasini invoked the Fifth Amendment, declining to answer questions as part of the committee&rsquo;s investigation. During a deposition, the witness is required to answer every question, whereas if they appear willingly, they can refuse to answer certain questions.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3425049\/autopen-history-and-controversy-presidential-use\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">THE LONG HISTORY AND CONTROVERSY OF PRESIDENTIAL AUTOPEN USE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tomasini is the second witness this week to invoke the Fifth Amendment in a deposition and the third of this investigation. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3472329\/biden-aide-anthony-bernal-deposition-house-oversight-committee-autopen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Bernal<\/a>, Jill Biden&rsquo;s former aide, and physician <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3466250\/biden-physician-dr-kevin-oconnor-house-oversight-committee-deposition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Kevin O&rsquo;Connor<\/a> invoked the Fifth Amendment when they appeared before the committee, with video footage of both released later following their interviews.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Biden aide Annie Tomasini at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington D.C. on July 18, 2025 for the Biden autopen investigation. (Graeme Jennings\/Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3472061\/james-comer-subpoena-former-biden-aide-annie-tomasini\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">subpoenaed Tomasini<\/a> on Tuesday after her lawyers unexpectedly requested the subpoena for her to comply, as the committee already had a voluntary interview set for Friday.<\/p>\n<p>With Tomasini being the third witness pleading the Fifth Amendment, Comer criticized the &ldquo;pattern of key Biden confidants seeking to shield themselves from criminal liability for this potential conspiracy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Comer said Tomasini refused the answer questions on Biden&rsquo;s fitness to serve and pleaded the Fifth when asked if Biden or his family instructed her to lie regarding his health. She also invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked about Biden&rsquo;s handling of classified documents and his family&rsquo;s business dealings. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unbelievable that Ms. Tomasini and others refuse to answer basic questions about President Biden&rsquo;s fitness to serve,&rdquo; Comer said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s apparent they would rather <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >hide key information<\/a> to protect themselves and Joe Biden than be truthful with the American people about this historic scandal.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Former Biden aide Annie Tomasini left the hearing room just about a half hour after she entered. <\/p>\n<p>Tomasini requested a subpoena, earlier this week, for what was set for a transcribed interview. She is the third to plead the fifth in this investigation. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/J0Yv7OSTZE\">pic.twitter.com\/J0Yv7OSTZE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Lauren Green (@lauren_greennn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lauren_greennn\/status\/1946219332461097398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Biden has said he made the final call regarding clemency decisions that are now under scrutiny for his autopen signature. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I made every decision,&rdquo; Biden told the <em>New York Times.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The committee has conducted two voluntary interviews in the investigation with former Biden aides <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3452415\/neera-tanden-house-oversight-committee-authorized-autopen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Neera Tanden<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3467935\/biden-aide-ashley-williams-appears-house-oversight-autopen-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Ashley Williams<\/a>, with several more set in the coming months. The Trump administration has waived executive privilege for every witness in the investigation. Executive privilege allows a witness to withhold information from Congress to protect the integrity of the executive branch.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3470880\/biden-aide-stefanie-feldman-manager-autopen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>BIDEN AIDE STEFANIE FELDMAN REVEALED AS MANAGER OF AUTOPEN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) told reporters when O&rsquo;Connor invoked the Fifth Amendment that it should not be seen as a sign of guilt but rather reality.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He did what any good lawyer would advise him to do, and it seems like he had two good lawyers in the room today,&rdquo; Crockett told reporters last week.<\/p>\n<p>Transcripts from the voluntary testimonies are slated to be made public when all the interviews have been concluded. <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3440261\/biden-autopen-use-trump-investigation-what-to-know\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BIDEN AUTOPEN USE: WHAT TO KNOW AS TRUMP ORDERS AN INVESTIGATION INTO HIS PREDECESSOR<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The committee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3474490\/comer-expands-biden-autopen-investigation-more-witness-interviews\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"announced on Thursday\">announced on Thursday<\/a> it had scheduled interviews with four more former Biden officials, including: special assistant to the president and senior adviser in the White House Counsel&rsquo;s Office Ian Sams, deputy assistant to Biden and senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and chief of staff Jeff Zients.<\/p>\n<p>Sams is set to appear on Aug. 21, Bates on Sept. 5, Jean-Pierre on Sept. 12, and Zients on Sept. 18.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2175505\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2175505\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Biden aide Tomasini pleads Fifth in autopen probe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3691,"featured_media":2463457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Annie-Tomasini-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[59408,37220,45995],"class_list":["post-2463456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-annie-tomasini","tag-biden-aide","tag-fifth-amendment"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Annie-Tomasini-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2463456"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2463460,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463456\/revisions\/2463460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2463457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2463456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2463456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2463456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}