WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s former doctor refused to answer a single question Wednesday about the former president’s health and cognitive decline — stunningly invoking his right against self-incrimination before slinking out of a congressional deposition.
Ex White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor is facing claims that he shielded the public from seeing Biden’s decline while he was in office — and even covering up advance-stage prostate cancer.
“Dr. O’Connor pleaded the Fifth Amendment,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) revealed after the doctor’s swift departure.
According to Comer, O’Connor — Biden’s longtime personal physician — was asked:
- “Were you ever told to lie about the president’s health?”
- “Did you ever believe President Biden was unfit to execute his duties?”
He pleaded the Fifth Amendment both times.
The only question O’Connor answered before the deposition concluded was confirming his name, according to an Oversight spokesperson, who pointed out doctor-patient privilege would have allowed the witness to answer at least some questions.
“This is unprecedented, and I think that this adds more fuel to the fire that there was a cover-up,” Comer declared.
“‘Were you ever told to lie about the president’s health?’ He pleaded the Fifth Amendment,” the chairman said. “‘Did you ever believe President Biden was unfit to execute his duties?’ Again, President Biden’s White House physician pleaded the Fifth Amendment.”
The only question O’Connor answered before the deposition concluded was confirming his name, according to an Oversight spokesperson, who pointed out doctor-patient privilege would have allowed the witness to answer at least some questions.
“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 coverup from happening again,” he added. “We will continue to interview more Biden White House aides to get the answers Americans deserve.”
The next scheduled interview will take place Friday with Ashley Williams, the former Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations.
Annie Tomasini, former Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff, will sit for an interview on July 18.
Comer told reporters that O’Connor invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination lended more credibility to bombshell claims in the Biden White House tell-all “Original Sin” published May 20 by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson.
The co-authors alleged that a “Politburo” of close senior advisers — including Tomasini — served the “ultimate decision-makers” in the last White House.
Other purported “Politburo” members who will sit for interviews with the Oversight panel include ex-White House chief of staff Ron Klain (July 24), former counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti (July 30), former senior adviser Mike Donilon (July 31) and former deputy chief of staff for policy Bruce Reed (Aug 5).
Anita Dunn, who left the Biden White House in August 2024 after serving as a senior adviser to the president for communications, will sit for a transcribed interview Aug. 7.
The Trump White House had declined Tuesday to invoke executive privilege over any of O’Connor’s testimony,
“There’s more and more evidence that comes out every day that would suggest that the president was in a pretty severe mental decline, so we’re going to ask about that,” Comer had said before the deposition.
“We can’t have the physician’s office not being truthful about the health condition of the president,” he added, noting that the interview was part of a larger investigation into who in the Biden White House was authorized to use an autopen that signed executive actions and pardons.
Schertler, a top criminal defense lawyer, also represented former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci during his testimony before the Oversight’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic last year.
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