(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The legal defense team for Hunter Biden, notably, met with Anthony Bernal, a top aide for First Lady Jill Biden who is famously known as her “work husband.” This encounter took place just days before Hunter Biden chose to defy a subpoena from congressional investigators.
According to the New York Post’s report on White House visitor logs, Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, met with Bernal on Dec. 11. Two days later, on Dec. 13, Hunter Biden famously disregarded a subpoena and held a highly dramatic press conference outside the Capitol.
The White House claimed that Lowell’s visit to the White House was related to a Hanukkah reception and that no business related to Hunter Biden was discussed, the Post reported.
Despite the White House’s efforts to dispel rumors of potential coordination, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre admitted in December that Joe Biden was “familiar” with Hunter Biden’s premeditated attempt to defy the subpoena that day.
Hunter Biden’s defiance prompted Republican lawmakers to threaten to hold him in contempt of Congress—a threat they ultimately abandoned after the first son agreed to appear for a deposition.
In response to the meeting, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., called on the White House to provide information about potential coordination between Hunter Biden and Biden administration officials.
Comer told the Post on Saturday, “We’ve called on the White House to provide information about whether President Biden sought to influence or obstruct our investigation by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the subpoenas for a deposition as part of the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry, but the White House has refused to provide any information.”
At the time, Hunter Biden had requested a public hearing rather than the accustomed behind-closed-doors transcribed interviews. Ironically, Hunter Biden would ignore another invitation for a public hearing in the months ahead.
It isn’t immediately clear what Lowell and Bernal discussed in their Dec. 11 meeting. Such a meeting further cements Bernal’s role as a central figure in the scandals rocking the White House.
According to the Post, the House Oversight Committee identified Bernal as one of the individuals who had access to the classified documents held at the Penn Biden Center. Such access was granted before the documents were made public in November 2022.
In addition to his role with the classified documents, Bernal has emerged as the purported “work husband” of Jill Biden, the Post reported.
Bernal’s involvement with the first lady dates back to 2008 and he is facing accusations of bullying and sexual harassment, the Post added. He is an openly gay man.