Former President Biden’s White House doctor, Kevin O’Connor, declined to answer questions during a deposition with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday, according to a statement from his legal counsel, citing physician-patient privilege and constitutional rights against self-incrimination.
“Earlier today, Dr. Kevin O’Connor asserted the physician-patient privilege, as well as his right under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in declining to answer questions from the staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding his service as Physician to the President during the Biden Administration,” the statement from O’Connor’s legal counsel said.
“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. 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 said.
Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) subpoenaed the doctor last month to compel his interview as part of the panel’s investigation into Biden’s mental acuity while in office and whether the 46th president was aware of documents signed with his “autopen” signature.
Comer tore into O’Conner over his refusal to answer questions.
“It’s 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. The American people demand transparency, but Dr. O’Connor would rather conceal the truth,” 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. Congress must assess legislative solutions to prevent such a coverup from happening again. We will continue to interview more Biden White House aides to get the answers Americans deserve.”
According to a written draft of a statement delivered inside the deposition room, O’Connor’s lawyer, David Schertler, said the committee indicated that “it does not intend to honor one of the most well-known privileges in our law — the physician patient privilege …. Revealing confidential patient information would violate the most fundamental ethical duty of a physician, could result in revocation of Dr. O’Connor’s medical license, and would subject Dr. O’Connor to potential civil liability.”
Schertler also noted President Trump has directed the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation into Biden’s mental acuity while in office, arguing the Oversight panel should pause its investigation until any criminal investigation concluded.
And Schertler said O’Connor’s decision to assert his Fifth Amendment privilege “does not imply that Dr. O’Connor has committed any crime.”
Asked about doctor-patient confidentiality before heading into the interview, Comer told reporters: “I don’t believe that he can hide behind doctor-patient confidentiality, because this is the president of the United States, and people expect the White House physician to be truthful and transparent about the president of the United States’ health.”
A source clarified that O’Connor did not plead the fifth due only to doctor-patient privilege, and invoked his Fifth Amendment rights for every answer, aside from stating his name, even questions that would not have implicated doctor-patient privilege.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the committee, slammed the GOP investigation in a statement.
“The only person’s health that Republicans care about is Joe Biden’s – even as 17 million Americans lose access to affordable health care thanks to their big budget betrayal,” Garcia said. “Oversight Republicans could be working to lower costs for American families and conducting oversight of President Trump’s corruption, but instead are obsessed with the past. Democrats will continue to look forward and build a more effective and efficient government for the American people.”
The doctor’s lawyers over the weekend had requested postponement of the interview, citing concern O’Connor would not be able to protect doctor-patient privilege during the testimony, and asserting the committee had declined to rule out any limitations to the scope of the deposition.
The statement from O’Connor’s legal counsel referenced President Trump relying on his Fifth Amendment rights when refusing to testify in a deposition before the New York state attorney general in 2022, saying: “Anyone in my position not taking the Fifth Amendment would be a fool — an absolute fool.”
NewsNation contributed.
Updated at 11:10 a.m. EDT
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