July 10, 2024
Mr. Edward Siskel
Assistant to the President and White House Counsel
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. Siskel:
Attached to this letter is a subpoena requiring Annie Tomasini, Deputy Chief of Staff, to
appear for a deposition before the Committee on Oversight and Accountability. This subpoena is
issued pursuant to Rule XI.2(m)(1)(B) of the Rules of the House of Representatives and Rule
12(g) of the Oversight Committee’s rules.
Subsequent to the President’s “disastrous”
1
debate performance in June, officials in the
House of Representatives,
2
the Senate,
3
and the White House
4
have voiced concerns about the
President’s ability to lead the country. Recent reporting has revealed a White House in disarray,
and one former Biden aide has said that “Annie [Tomasini], Ashley [Williams] and Anthony
[Bernal] create a protective bubble around” President Biden, and the President is “staffed so
closely that he’s lost all independence.”
5
Ms. Tomasini specifically has been identified as
having uncharacteristic access to even the President’s personal residence and has taken steps
since early in President Biden’s term to “rope off” the President.
6
The Committee is therefore investigating the scope of Ms. Tomasini’s responsibilities
within the White House. In particular, based on the reports discussed above, it appears as though
Ms. Tomasini has firsthand knowledge of the extent to which President Biden is personally
carrying out the duties of his office and whether he is capable of doing so. The Committee seeks
this information to explore whether the time has come for Congress to revisit potential legislation
1
Trevor Hunnicutt et al., Joe Biden’s disastrous debate blamed on bad preparation, exhaustion, Reuters (July 1,
2024).
2
See, e.g., Ali Velshi, Rep. Raskin: Democrats are ‘having a serious conversation about what to do’ after Biden
debate, MSNBC (June 30, 2024).
3
See, e.g., Alexander Bolton, Durbin: Debate ‘raised a lot of questions’ about Biden’s viability, The Hill (July 8,
2024).
4
See, e.g., Alex Thompson, “Freaking the f*** out”: Turmoil in the White House over Biden, Axios (July 2, 2024).
5
Alex Thompson, Biden staff “miserable,” alarmed as pressure builds, Axios (July 5, 2024).
6
Alex Thompson, Top aides shielded Biden from staff, but couldn’t hide the debate, Axios (June 30, 2024).
Mr. Edward Siskel
July 10, 2024
Page 2 of 3
to address the oversight of presidents’ fitness to serve pursuant to its authority under Section 4 of
the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.
7
The nature and scope of Ms. Tomasini’s duties have long been of interest to the
Committee. Ms. Tomasini was one of several White House officials to visit the Penn Biden
Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement before the “discovery” of classified materials at
the same location in November 2022.
8
Indeed, the Committee previously sought testimony from
Ms. Tomasini about President Biden’s mishandling of classified materials and whether the White
House led an effort to cover up the President’s actions or mislead the American people about
them.
9
However, the White House has refused to allow Ms. Tomasini to testify.
10
Now, the Committee is concerned that Ms. Tomasini may be running interference on
behalf of the President and perhaps doing some of the President’s job for him. Howard Dean,
the former Democratic National Committee Chairman recently stated that “Joe Biden has a very
good team around him who knows what they're doing. They've done a great job running the
country[.]”
11
Given public reporting that White House staff have “aggressively stage-managed”
the President and are focusing “on minute details” to “minimize signs of how age has taken a toll
on the oldest president in U.S. history,”
12
and in light of Ms. Tomasini’s proximity to the
President, the Committee seeks to understand the extent of Ms. Tomasini’s influence over the
President and her knowledge of whether the President is personally discharging the duties of his
office.
The Committee is concerned that Ms. Tomasini appears to be one of several White House
staffers who have taken it upon themselves to run the country while the President cannot. To be
clear, the American people did not elect Ms. Tomasini or any White House staffer to do
President Biden’s job for him, and the Committee seeks Ms. Tomasini’s testimony regarding the
matters identified above.
Please contact staff by July 17, 2024, to discuss the deposition. If you have any questions
regarding this deposition, please contact James Mandolfo or Jake Greenberg with the Committee
at (202) 225-5074. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight
committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any
7
See, e.g., Press Release, Raskin Introduces Bill to Establish Independent Commission on Presidential Capacity,
Office of Rep. Jamie Raskin (May 12, 2017); Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act, H.R. 1987, 115th
Cong. (2017).
8
Letter from Hon. James Comer, Chairman, H. Comm. on Oversight & Accountability to Edward Siskel, White
House Counsel, The White House (Oct. 11, 2023); Letter from Hon. James Comer, Chairman, H. Comm. on
Oversight & Accountability, and Hon. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary, to Ms. Annie Tomasini
(Nov. 13, 2023).
9
See Oct. 11 Letter, supra, fn. 8.
10
Letter from Richard Sauber, Special Counsel to the President, The White House, to Hon. James Comer, Chairman,
H. Comm. on Oversight & Accountability (Oct. 18, 2023).
11
Michel Martin, ‘I would tell Biden to hang in there,’ former DNC Charman Howard Dean says, NPR (July 1,
2024) (emphasis added).
12
Andrew Restuccia, et al., How Biden’s Inner Circle Worked to Keep Signs of Aging Under Wraps, The Wall
Street Journal (July 8, 2024); see also Alex Thompson, Scoop: How Biden’s event staffers guide him behind the
scenes, Axios (July 7, 2024).
Mr. Edward Siskel
July 10, 2024
Page 3 of 3
matter” at “any time” under House Rule X. Thank you for your prompt attention to this
important investigation.
Sincerely,
______________________________
James Comer
Chairman
Committee on Oversight and Accountability
cc: The Honorable Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member
Committee on Oversight and Accountability
