A low-profile but powerful staffer of the first lady, Jill Biden, is in the spotlight this week after the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed him and two other White House aides over concerns that he is “running interference” on behalf of President Biden and walling off access to the president from political and household staffers amid concerns about his cognitive function.

Anthony Bernal, known as one of the first lady’s most trusted advisors, is one of the three staffers — including Annie Tomasini and Ashley Williams — that the House committee subpoenaed this week, citing concerns that they had formed a “protective bubble” around the president and shielded his cognitive state from the White House staff and from the greater public. 

“The White House has shielded three key aides from testifying about President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents and now we’ve learned through reporting these same aides are also seeking to cover up President Biden’s declining cognitive state inside the White House,” the committee’s chairman, Representative James Comer, said. 

A recent report in Axios, cited by the committee, said Mr. Bernal and the other two aides have unusual access to the upstairs living quarters of the White House, and have barred longtime residence staff such as butlers and other servants from having proximity to the first family and performing their usual duties.  

A former residence official told Axios that Mrs. Biden was “so protective of the president, and then Anthony just protects her, and they often wouldn’t let us do anything for them.”

In a letter to Mr. Bernal, Mr. Comer said it appears that he 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,” and expressed concern that “Mr. Bernal may be running interference on behalf of the President and perhaps doing some of the President’s job for him.” 

“The Committee is concerned that Mr. Bernal appears to be one of several White House staffers who have taken it upon themselves to run the country while the President cannot,” the letter reads, requesting a response by July 17. 

In a book released earlier this year titled “American Woman” by a New York Times White House correspondent, Katie Rogers, Mr. Bernal is described as “one of the only people” Mrs. Biden really trusts, “her closest nonfamilial confidant,” and a man who is known within the White House for having the “ability to create the world Jill wants.” 

A native of Arizona who kicked off his political career working for the White House during the Clinton administration, Mr. Bernal is described in the book as the “engine behind some of the First Lady’s most publicized and popular decisions” — but he is also said to have an “abrupt nature,” and is known “to make life hell for junior aides.”

Mr. Bernal drew attention in March after the New York Post, citing nearly a dozen of his current and former colleagues, reported that he had verbally sexually harassed them, including asking co-workers about their penis sizes and speculating about their sex lives. That report indicated that Mr. Bernal was “untouchable,” as the first lady sees him as her “work husband.”

The White House at the time dismissed those concerns as “unfounded attacks” and said that the Bidens had “full confidence” in his character. 

Yet, concerns about Mr. Bernal’s general character emerged years before the sexual harassment allegations, with a 2021 Politico report exposing him as one of “the most polarizing people in the White House,” “berating,” “toxic,” making staffers cry, and having a “tendency to trash talk his colleagues behind their backs.” Although staffers seem to agree that his loyalty to the Bidens is unmatched, some said it didn’t excuse the way he treats his colleagues. 

The White House did not immediately respond to a request from the Sun for comment on the subpoenas.