Biden’s Hidden Cognitive Decline: Aides Take Shelter Behind Fifth Amendment

The recent days have brought forward yet another telling instance of the questionable competence at the heart of the Biden presidency. Anthony Bernal, who served as chief of staff to former first lady Jill Biden, has wrapped himself in the sheltering veil of the Fifth Amendment to avoid potential criminal liability during a congressional deposition. For those who have been privy to the shrouds of uncertainty veiling Biden’s mental and physical fitness during his presidency, Bernal’s move doesn’t come as a surprise.

Bernal’s choice reveals the desperation that has seeped into the former aides of Biden. The story was put into the limelight by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair, Representative James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky. He has publicly termed Bernal’s strategical silence as a tactic to evade self-incrimination due to unauthorized executive actions taken amidst Biden’s alleged cognitive decline.

According to Comer, Bernal failed to answer critical questions about his relationship with Biden during the deposition. He sidestepped the question of whether any unelected individuals or family members took over the presidential duties or if Biden had ever directed him to fabricate the truth about his health. Such an avoidance solidifies concerns about the dubiousness surrounding Biden’s mental and physical health during his tenure.

While Bernal’s action might shock the unobservant, those who have been closely monitoring the Biden administration’s course know that this is not a one-off instance. In a clear pattern of evasion, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, another key player from Biden’s circle, also leaned on his Fifth Amendment rights during a congressional deposition, this time in a closed-door setting. Dr. O’Connor had served as Biden’s physician.

Dr. O’Connor, too, shirked the opportunity to clear the air regarding President Biden’s health and his competence to serve as President of the United States. As per Comer, this silence from key figures in Biden’s presidency once again insinuates an orchestrated play to camouflage Biden’s decline in cognitive abilities.

Allegations about Biden’s questionable mental competence were not new; they hung heavy in the air, even during the 2020 presidential campaign trail. The echoes of these doubts were echoed by many Republicans and were amplified by a large portion of conservative media. The Biden presidency, ironically, offered little amendment to these claims, exacerbating suspicions through a tenure marked by a series of questionable decisions.

The investigation probe grew sharper fangs when, in June, the House committee announced an expansion of its quest to unravel the ‘cover-up’ of Biden’s supposed ‘mental decline.’ Comer led the charge, directing missives to five ex-white house aides, demanding they be part of the transcribed interviews. The fact that these individuals were in the vicinity of the potentially unauthorized executive actions added fuel to the simmering situation.

Even as these controversies swirled around his presidency, Biden’s White House continued to maintain a façade of normalcy. They insisted that the former president was subjected to regular medical checks, the results of which they proclaimed to show a fit and functioning president. But as shown by the chain of questionable decisions and an increasing number of individuals hiding behind the Fifth Amendment, many found this hard to swallow.

Furthering the debate into Biden’s questionable pardons and executive actions, Comer started investigating into a closely held belief among the public, whether such actions could be voided under the law due to possible infringements of protocols. This inquiry points an accusatory finger towards Biden and adds another unsightly feather to the cap of his presidency.

The accusations against Biden’s presidency found a substantiated voice in Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s book, ‘Original Sin.’ The authors push the narrative that the country was run not by Biden, but by a small group of five individuals. Biden was at best, they claim, a senior member of an internal board, thus decreasing any merits his presidency may have had to almost negligible.

Worthy of mention is the underlying issue of autopen use that has been plaguing Biden’s presidency. Former President Donald Trump wove fresh threads into the conversation, insinuating that this tool might have been used to obscure the doubts surrounding Biden’s cognitive fitness.

An autopen, a device patented centuries ago, creates an individual’s signature on documents without their active involvement. While it is deemed acceptable for mundane tasks, using the autopen for official documents could be crossing a line. Trump’s statement brings into light the extreme importance of a presidential signature – it is the symbol by which a nation is governed.

Trump’s claims accentuate the doubts that had been looming about the validity of the executive orders, grants of mercy, pardons, and presidential memoranda during Biden’s tenure. If it was indeed the autopen that was used to carry out executive actions as Trump suggests, then once again, the implications on Biden’s leadership and his presidency are laid bare and cast adrift.

Trump’s emphasis on the autopen ripples into an intense scrutiny of the erstwhile president’s actions. For him, if Biden’s signatures on official presidential commands were not his but came from a machine, then it bares the fact that the device was being used beyond its intended capacity. This releases a bevy of questions about the true authority behind the presidential actions during Biden’s tenure.

The amalgamation of cloaked health concerns, the withdrawal of key figures behind the Fifth Amendment fortification, and the telling narrative around the autopen, weave a tangled web around the Biden administration. This masterpiece of concealment, as is being revealed, portrays an arguably struggling presidency lurking under the guise of coherence and consideration.