Top Biden aide with close ties to Hunter was first WH staffer to handle classified docs, new timeline reveals

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A top aide to President Biden who has close ties to Hunter Biden, even referring to him as a "brother" in emails, was the first person to "take inventory" of Biden’s documents and materials at his think tank, according to a new timeline released by the House Oversight Committee.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., pressed the White House earlier this week on an "incomplete and misleading" timeline he said that they provided his committee with regard to who had searched through the papers at the Washington, D.C., office for the president's think tank, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

Annie Tomasini, a senior Biden aide, had inspected the classified documents on March 18, 2021, two months after Biden had taken office and nearly 20 months before they were said to be found, Comer's letter said, citing a letter from a Penn Biden Center employee.

"President Biden’s team has misled the American people about the series of events related to his mishandling of classified documents," Comer told Fox News Digital. "Biden’s team told the American people that documents were unexpectedly found in November 2022, but now we know a White House official and close friend of Hunter Biden was tasked with taking inventory of President Biden’s documents and materials in March 2021."

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President Biden stands beside Annie Tomasini, director of Oval Office Operations. Tomasini was allegedly the first person to rummage through Biden's confidential documents that were at the Penn Biden Center. She is also close to Hunter Biden. (Nicholas Kamm / AFP via Getty Images / File)

"Why did the White House and President Biden’s attorney omit this critical piece of information? The Biden White House may have known President Biden had a document problem as early as 2021 and enlisted at least five White House employees to coordinate, organize, move and remove boxes from Penn Biden Center through 2022," Comer said. "The Oversight Committee will continue to pursue the facts and provide the transparency and accountability that the American people demand."

The Comer letter to White House counsel Edward Siskel demands cooperation from top White House aides regarding their communications and actions in 2021 and 2022. 

A timeline in the letter reveals that at least "five White House employees, including Dana Remus, Anthony Bernal, Ashley Williams, Annie Tomasini, and an unknown staffer," in addition to Kathy Chung, a top aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, made multiple visits to the Penn Biden Center and were involved with the retrieval of boxes of documents and materials ahead of early November 2022, which was when Biden's personal attorneys "unexpectedly discovered Obama-Biden documents" in a locked closet at the Biden think tank.

"There is no reasonable explanation as to why this many White House employees and lawyers were so concerned with retrieving boxes they believed only contained personal documents and materials," Comer said.

He then questioned why Remus, who served as White House counsel until July 2022, "played such an integral role in gathering President Biden’s boxes that were purportedly believed to contain non-government materials," noting these administrative tasks didn't require "her legal expertise nor her involvement."

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Tomasini, who serves as the White House Director of Oval Office Operations, is not only a senior adviser to Biden but also a close friend of the Biden family, including Hunter. She maintained close relations with Hunter throughout the Obama administration, in some cases referring to him as her "brother," and often ended her emails with "LY" for "love you," according to emails dating from 2010 to 2016.

For example, in December 2010, Biden announced that Tomasini was stepping down to take a position with Harvard University. Tomasini kept Hunter clued in on the details of that position before she took it, according to emails on his abandoned laptop, which Fox News Digital has verified.

The month prior, in November 2010, she forwarded information to Hunter about Harvard's employee benefits and added, "Thanks."

"Hey – I looked at benefits And they look pretty amazing. Any word on comp?" Hunter responded.

"I'll keep you posted. Thanks for looking at all the background Hunt," Tomasini said.

Later that month, Tomasini was offered the job, writing to Hunter, "Director of intergovernmental relations. > 120k ish – may be a little higher."

Tomasini thanked him and said she would tell his father the news. Months later, Hunter gave a speech at Harvard, but only after he ran the draft by Tomasini first.

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President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden (Fox News)

Furthermore, President Biden regularly met with his inner circle at the Wilmington, Delaware, home where classified documents were also discovered. Hunter Biden had stayed at the house during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the White House said no visitor logs exist for the president's Wilmington residence, several people have been identified as guests at the house, a previous Fox News Digital review found.

Biden converted the basement of his Wilmington residence into a de facto campaign headquarters in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic, and he frequently hosted virtual events and would have had to rely on campaign aides to help.

Tomasini and Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser in first lady Jill Biden's office, "were allowed in regularly" because "neither of them had their own families, which meant they could devote themselves entirely to the Bidens," according to the book, "Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency," by Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen.

Biden has spent considerable time in Delaware since taking over the presidency. During the visits, Biden stays at his Wilmington or Rehoboth Beach residences and has a full security detail.

After the discovery of classified documents at the Penn Biden Center, questions reignited on the likes of Chinese donations to the University of Pennsylvania, which houses the think tank. Hunter Biden had also discussed the center in emails before its launch, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

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Biden's classified document handling probe is still underway. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

In addition to Tomasini, Fox News Digital previously reported on Hunter's ties to Kathy Chung, who is currently serving as the Pentagon's deputy director of protocol. Comer's timeline shows that she "went to Penn Biden Center to pack up President Biden’s documents and materials" on June 28, 2022, according to her transcribed interview.

During the Obama-Biden administration, Chung served as then-Vice President Biden's executive assistant for about five years. Emails showed that Hunter recommended Chung for the executive assistant role when the previous holder of the job, Michele Smith, departed the White House in the spring of 2012.

A month after Chung thanked Hunter for "thinking" of her and getting her to apply for a job in the vice president's office, Chung emailed Hunter informing him that she had been offered the job. 

Kathy Chung informs Hunter Biden that then-Vice President Biden had selected her to be his executive assistant. (Fox News)

"I cannot thank you enough for thinking about me and walking me thru this," she said. "What an incredible opportunity! Thanks, Hunter!!"

In another email exchange shortly after the Obama-Biden administration concluded, Hunter suggested that Chung come work at his company. It does not appear that she ever joined Hunter's company.

Hunter Biden tells Kathy Chung she should work for him in February 2017, adding that he can "make everyone money." (Fox News)

Special Counsel Robert Hur, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, is leading the current probe of Biden's handling of the classified materials.

The documents were found in a locked closet while preparing to vacate office space at the center, which the president used from mid-2017 until he began the 2020 presidential campaign. The National Archives were notified of the finding and took possession of the documents on Nov. 3, 2022, according to an early timeline provided by Biden's personal attorney Bob Bauer.

Biden, meanwhile, recently conducted two "voluntary" interviews with Hur on Sunday and Monday.

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"As we have said from the beginning, the President and the White House are cooperating with this investigation, and as it has been appropriate, we have provided relevant updates publicly, being as transparent as we can consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation," Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House Counsel’s Office, said in a statement earlier this week.

The White House did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Jessica Chasmar, Louis Casiano and Jacqui Heinrich contributed reporting.