The widow of former President Barack Obama’s personal chef sent out a tribute to her late husband after he was found dead on Monday in a pond near the Obama family estate in Martha’s Vineyard.

Authorities said divers recovered the body of Tafari Campbell, 45, from the Edgartown Great Pond after a paddle boarding incident in which he was seen getting into the water, struggling to stay on the surface, and submerging without resurfacing.

“My heart is broken,” Sherise Campbell, Tafari’s wife, said in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “My life and our family’s life is forever changed. Please pray for me and our families as I deal with the loss of my husband.”

An employee of former President Barack Obama died while paddle boarding near the family’s Martha’s Vineyard residence, state police and the Obamas said. @EmilieIkedaNBC reports on the latest. pic.twitter.com/JJGfKDXzHB

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 25, 2023

The message came from an account for Sweet Sage, a Washington, D.C., metropolitan-area baking and catering business owned by Sherise Campbell.

A joint statement from Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama called Tafari Campbell a “beloved part of our family” and a “talented sous chef at the White House” whom they invited to continue working for them upon leaving the Executive Residence in early 2017.

“He’s been part of our lives ever since, and our hearts are broken that he’s gone,” their statement said. “Today we join everyone who knew and loved Tafari – especially his wife Sherise and their twin boys, Xavier and Savin – in grieving the loss of a truly wonderful man.”

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The Massachusetts State Police (MSP) said a joint-agency search operation got underway after Martha’s Vineyard Police and firefighters responded to a call at 7:46 p.m. on Sunday about a male paddle boarder who disappeared in the pond. An initial statement from the agency said another paddle boarder was with Campbell and witnessed him go under the water.

With the help of side-scan sonar from a boat, divers were able to recover the body approximately 100 feet from the shore at a depth of about 8 feet on Monday morning, MSP said in a second statement. The agency also said an investigation into the fatality was being conducted by the State Police Detective Unit for the Cape and Islands District and Edgartown Police.

A third release from MSP identified Campbell as the deceased paddle boarder and described the drowning as an “accident.” The agency additionally noted that Barack and Michelle Obama were not “present” at the residence at the time of the incident.

Hunter Biden prosecutor and U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss will be allowed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, according to a letter from the Department of Justice. 

Weiss’ testimony would come after the announcement of a plea deal where Hunter would plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and admit the facts of a gun charge. If the deal is accepted by a judge, it will likely mean no jail time for the president’s son. Republican lawmakers were quick to decry the deal, saying that it was too lenient on Hunter, prompting Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to send a letter requesting Weiss’ testimony before Congress. 

“The Department of Justice (Department) appreciates the Committee on the Judiciary’s (Committee’s) acceptance of our offer for U.S. Attorney Weiss to testify at a public hearing before the Committee. The Department is ready to offer U.S. Attorney Weiss to testify shortly after Congress returns from the August district work period, as described more fully below,” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte wrote in a letter to Jordan. 

Potential dates for the testimony included September 27 or 28, and October 18 or 19.

The DOJ added in its letter that it was concerned that there were misunderstandings about its work and wanted Weiss to speak to those concerns. 

“At the same time, we are deeply concerned by any misrepresentations about our work — whether deliberate or arising from misunderstandings — that could unduly harm public confidence in the evenhanded administration of justice, to which we are dedicated,” Uriarte added. 

Weiss has been criticized by IRS whistleblowers, who have contended that he has not been consistent in his handling of his investigation into the president’s son. One, Joseph Ziegler, has disputed several statements made by Weiss, saying that Hunter should face more serious criminal charges. 

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The second whistleblower, IRS supervisory special agent Gary Shapley, has said that the DOJ and Weiss have been unclear about who has charging authority in the investigation into Hunter. “The story has been changing from the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney Weiss — and the only person that’s really had any documents that have been corroborated are my own,” Shapley said before Congress last week. 

During the two whistleblowers’ testimony, Jordan critiqued Weiss and the DOJ over the apparent change in who had charging power.  

“It looks pretty obvious what happened. It looks pretty obvious,” Jordan said. “Initially everyone was pounding their chest, ‘David Weiss has complete authority.’ Now suddenly he doesn’t. He doesn’t. Because you guys came forward and told the truth.”