Joe Biden‘s personal physician pleaded the fifth amendment protection against ‘self-incrimination’ during his testimony to Congress on Wednesday.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor was on Capitol Hill, under subpoena, as part of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s probe into Biden’s mental capabilities while in office.
Comer said Biden’s longtime personal doctor plead the fifth and argued it shows ‘there was a conspiracy to cover up President Biden’s cognitive decline.’
‘It’s now clear there was a conspiracy to cover up President Biden’s cognitive decline after Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician and family business associate, refused to answer any questions and chose to hide behind the fifth amendment,’ Comer said in a statement.
‘Dr. O’Connor took the fifth when asked if he was told to lie about President Biden’s health and whether he was fit to be President of the United States.’
O’Connor cited patient privilege as his reason for pleading the fifth. His lawyer, ahead of his testimony, expressed concern about what O’Connor would be able to say without violating doctor-patient confidentiality laws.
The physician was in charge of Biden’s annual physical and repeatedly deemed Biden fit to hold office. Republicans charge the former president’s inner circle engaged in a conspiracy to hide cognitive decline.
Ahead of O’Connor’s closed door sit-down, President Donald Trump‘s administration waived his ability to exert executive privilege, saying he needed to talk to Congress.
A letter sent to him by the White House – obtained by the Daily Mail – informed him he did not have ‘executive privilege’ in the matter.
‘In light of the unique and extraordinary nature of the matters under investigation, President Trump has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the national interest, and therefore is not justified, with respect to particular subjects within the purview of the House Oversight Committee,’ states the letter.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor was on Capitol Hill, under subpoena, as part of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s probe into Biden’s mental capabilities while in office
O’Connor is one of several people close to Biden who are being asked to testify about the former president’s health
Dr. Kevin O’Connor gave President Joe Biden his yearly physicals and found him fit to serve as president; he was subpoenaed by Republicans to testify
O’Connor is one of several people close to Biden who are being asked to testify about the former president’s health amid Republicans’ query about a possible cover up.
The Republicans’ witness list includes the most powerful figures in the Biden White House, including those who handled the president’s schedule, had access to the residence, and determined access to Biden himself.
O’Connor is at the center of the coverup claims. As Biden’s personal physician, he traveled with him and signed off on his yearly physicals, giving the then-president a clean bill of health.
But O’Connor notably didn’t subject Biden to routine cognitive tests.
He was expected to face heavy questioning from Republicans on his care of the former president.
The Trump administration told him that lawmakers need information from him.
‘After balancing the Legislative and Executive Branch interests, as required under the accommodation process, it is the President’s view that this presents an exceptional situation in which the congressional need for information outweighs the Executive Branch’s interest in maintaining confidentiality, especially given the Executive Branch’s own interest in determining the validity of prior executive actions,’ Gary Lawkowski, Deputy Counsel to the President, wrote.
O’Connor was subpoenaed after he refused to appear voluntarily for a transcribed interview with lawmakers.
Executive privilege guarantees aides ability to speak frankly to a president by giving the president authority to withhold certain information from Congress.
It is not unusual for one administration to waive it for another. Biden’s administration, for example, waved it for Trump aides who were subpoenaed by Democrats on the special committee looking into the January 6th insurrection.
What remains unclear is how much O’Connor can say without violating the Hipaa Law, which guarantees doctor-patient confidentiality.
O’Connor’s lawyers petitioned for a delay in his testimony over the weekend, calling the subpoena of a personal physician ‘unprecedented.’
They were seeking to postpone O’Connor’s testimony to July 28 or Aug. 4.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer claimed Joe Biden’s doctor was part of a ‘conspiracy’ to cover up the former president’s health
President Donald Trump’s administration has waived executive privilege so former Joe Biden aides can testify before Congress
His attorney David Schertler pointed to concerns O’Connor would not be able to protect doctor-patient privilege during the testimony, and said the committee had declined to rule out any limitations to the scope of the deposition.
‘We are unaware of any prior occasion on which a Congressional Committee has subpoenaed a physician to testify about the treatment of an individual patient,’ his letter to the committee said.
‘And the notion that a Congressional Committee would do so without any regard whatsoever for the confidentiality of the physician-patient relationship is alarming.’
A spokesperson for the committee told NBC News the letter ‘another delay tactic to stonewall the Oversight Committee’s investigation.’
‘To the extent that Dr. O’Connor wishes to assert privilege in response to specific questions, the Oversight Committee will follow that process at the deposition,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Dr. O’Connor is not permitted to disregard a congressional deposition subpoena because he believes he may be asked questions that, in his view, will implicate privileged information.’
O’Connor ultimately appeared to plead the Fifth.
