Biden’s mental health has been a major question for several years now. Congress is trying to get to the bottom of it.
And Joe Biden’s doctor just did one appalling thing during a Congressional investigation.
Former White House Doctor’s Brief Interview Causes Controversy
On Wednesday morning, former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor faced a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee that wrapped up in under an hour, leaving lawmakers with hardly any new information. The doctor’s repeated use of the Fifth Amendment during the session ignited a firestorm of debate and speculation.
Key Questions Met with Silence
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., voiced frustration after the meeting, sharing the first two questions asked of O’Connor: “Were you ever told to lie about the president’s health?” and “Did you ever believe President Biden was unfit to execute his duty?”
Comer told reporters that O’Connor invoked the Fifth Amendment for both, cutting short what was expected to be an extensive deposition. “This is unprecedented, and I think that this adds more fuel to the fire that there was a cover-up,” Comer said.
Legal Defense of Patient Privilege
O’Connor’s legal team defended his silence, arguing that the committee’s demands risked violating patient-physician privilege. “This Committee has indicated to Dr. O’Connor and his attorneys that it does not intend to honor one of the most well-known privileges in our law – the physician patient privilege,” their statement read.
They stressed that disclosing confidential patient information could jeopardize O’Connor’s medical license and expose him to civil liability. “Dr. O’Connor will not violate his oath of confidentiality to any of his patients, including President Biden,” the attorneys added.
Allegations of a Cover-Up
The committee is investigating whether former top aides to President Joe Biden concealed evidence of his mental or physical decline while he was president. While Biden’s allies have dismissed these allegations, Comer suggested O’Connor’s reticence might point to the contrary.
“Most people invoke the fifth when they have criminal liability. And so that’s what would appear on the surface here,” he said, pledging to continue the inquiry.
Constitutional Rights and DOJ Probe
O’Connor’s lawyers pushed back, emphasizing that invoking the Fifth Amendment does not imply guilt. Citing the Supreme Court, they noted, “We want to emphasize that asserting the Fifth Amendment privilege does not imply that Dr. O’Connor has committed any crime.”
“In fact, to the contrary, as our Supreme Court has emphasized: ‘One of the Fifth Amendment’s basic functions is to protect innocent men who otherwise might be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances.'”
They called for the committee to pause its probe while a Department of Justice investigation is ongoing.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, the only other lawmaker present at the interview, defended O’Connor’s actions. Drawing on her background as a criminal defense attorney, she called Comer’s remarks surprising.
“We have a constitutional right that anyone who may be under fire can invoke,” Crockett said, referencing a concurrent DOJ criminal probe. “I think he did what any good lawyer
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