Joe Biden’s former doctor refused to answer a single question Wednesday about the ex-president’s health and cognitive decline — stunningly invoking his right against self-incrimination before slinking out of a congressional deposition.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor is facing claims that he shielded the public from Biden’s decline while the 46th president was in office — and even covered up his powerful patient’s advanced-stage prostate cancer.
“Dr. O’Connor pleaded the Fifth Amendment,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) revealed after the doctor’s swift departure.
According to Comer, O’Connor, Biden’s longtime personal physician, was asked two key questions:
- “Were you ever told to lie about the president’s health?”
- “Did you ever believe President Biden was unfit to execute his duties?”
In both instances, O’Connor took the Fifth.
“This is unprecedented, and I think that this adds more fuel to the fire that there was a cover-up,” Comer declared.
In a subsequent statement, the Kentucky Republican added it was “clear there was a conspiracy to cover up” the 46th president’s declining mental acuity.
“Congress must assess legislative solutions to prevent such a cover-up from happening again,” he added. “We will continue to interview more Biden White House aides to get the answers Americans deserve.”
In an unusual move, the committee posted footage of O’Connor’s aborted closed-door interview on X, tweeting: “What are they hiding?”
The only question O’Connor did answer before the deposition concluded was confirming his name, according to an Oversight spokesperson, who pointed out that doctor-patient privilege would have allowed the witness to answer at least some questions. --->READ MORE HERE
The White House was seeking to clear a path for Kevin O’Connor’s testimony.
Kevin O’Connor, who served as Joe Biden’s physician while the former president was in office, refused to testify in a closed-door interview as part of the House GOP probe into Biden’s mental acuity and whether his inner circle sought to conceal his limitations from the public.
O’Connor Wednesday morning asserted doctor-patient privilege and his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to a statement from his attorneys. He had repeatedly argued his duties as a doctor complicated his ability to testify under oath about his patient, preventing him from sharing some sensitive information.
“On the advice of his legal counsel, Dr. O’Connor refused to answer questions that invaded the well-established legal privilege that protects confidential matters between physicians and their patients,” the statement read. “His assertion of his right under the Fifth Amendment to decline to answer questions, also on the advice of his lawyers, was made necessary by the unique circumstances of this deposition.
The statement also cited President Donald Trump’s own invocation of his Fifth Amendment right before his deposition with New York State Attorney General Letitia James, quoting Trump’s suggestion that only “an absolute fool” would refuse to take the Fifth.
O’Connor’s decision not to participate in the committee probe sparked a rebuke from the Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who told reporters that the physician’s choice to invoke the 5th Amendment “adds more fuel to the fire that there was a cover up” of Biden’s mental fitness and vowed to continue the investigation.
Comer weeks ago subpoenaed O’Connor to appear before the committee, rejecting O’Connor’s claims that his duties as a doctor barred him from being able to discuss Biden’s private health information. In recent days, O’Connor had sought to delay the interview to continue negotiations with the committee on the terms of what he believed he could and could not divulge. The White House Tuesday night announced that it had waived executive privilege for O’Connor in an effort to compel his cooperation. --->READ MORE HERE
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