The Doctor was in (and out): Biden's physician invokes Fifth Amendment during deposition
Specifically to the House of Representatives.
O'Connor served as President Biden's physician. The House Oversight Committee wanted to talk to O'Connor about whether Biden was fit to serve as president. So House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., issued a subpoena for O'Connor.
The doctor was in.
But not for very long.
After 20 minutes behind closed doors with Comer and company, the deposition concluded. Committee attorneys peppered O'Connor with questions about whether he thought former President Biden was up to the job and if he was asked to lie about the commander in chief's health. But Comer got the same response each time. Even when committee lawyers posed a simple question, asking O'Connor if he understood the proceedings.
O'Connor deployed his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination each time. The committee even took the rare step of releasing a video from most of the deposition the same evening.
"Most people invoke the Fifth when they have criminal liability. And you know, that's what it would appear (to be) on the surface here," said Comer after the deposition concluded. "The American people have a right to know the health condition of the president. Both physical and mental."
Comer observed that O'Connor's silence "adds more fuel to the fire that there was a cover-up."
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Tex., was the only Democrat who showed up for the deposition. Crockett just bowed out a few weeks ago from a bid to become the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee after the death of late Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va.
"It was important to make sure that a Democrat was in the room. Because unfortunately, sometimes people like to cherry pick and make sure that they can give whatever fits their narrative," said Crockett.
But the video revealed O'Connor repeatedly citing the Fifth Amendment "on the advice of counsel." That's why Comer hoped to shape one narrative about the health of former President Biden. Comer also suggested the potential lengths that O'Connor was willing to go to in order to protect the former president. And perhaps himself.
Crockett was incredulous at Comer's assertions.
"It's kind of astounding to hear someone say, if you invoke the Fifth Amendment, that is only because you are guilty," said Crockett. "(Republicans) have been very good at rallying people up and getting them emotional because they don't fully understand some of our processes."
Crockett added that patients "have the right to confidentiality when it comes to your health care."
The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the use of the autopen by Biden. O'Connor's lawyers say that led their client to exercise his Fifth Amendment rights.
"We want to emphasize that asserting the Fifth Amendment privilege does not imply that Dr. O'Connor has committed any crime," said his legal team.
And the statement also indicated there was concern about O'Connor keeping medical information of the First Patient in confidence.
"The Committee has indicated that it will demand that Dr. O'Connor reveal, without any limitations, confidential confirmation regarding his medical examinations, treatment and care of President Biden," read the statement. "Revealing confidential patient information would violate the most fundamental ethical duty of a physician."
His attorneys went on to say that O'Connor could face "civil liability" and "revocation" of his medical license.
Regardless, O'Connor wasn't answering any questions anywhere. Inside the meeting room. Heading to the meeting room. Or heading home.
"Will you invoke the Fifth? What about patient doctor confidentiality?" yours truly asked O'Connor as he navigated a third-floor hallway in the Rayburn House Office Building with a small coterie of attorneys. "Do you think (President Biden) was up to the job? Do you think he was up to serve?"
No response.
O'Connor reprised his reticence on the way out.
"Did you take the Fifth because you're trying to cover up what the President's state was?" I asked as he departed down a Rayburn stairwell.
Nothing.
The statement from the physician's counsel declared that the pact between doctors and patients "require that Dr. O'Connor refuse to testify."
This is a question which vexes even doctors who double as lawmakers.
Such is the case with Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. He's an OB-GYN.
"I can see both sides of it. I can certainly see, as a physician, you take an oath of confidentiality with every patient. If there's a national security issue, does that outweigh that relationship?" pondered Marshall. "I would really have to think about that. I want to get a couple of consults myself and talk to some constitutional lawyers."
But aside from the Constitutional, ethical and medical questions, Democrats reverted to defending the former president.
I asked Crockett if she ever perceived health problems with the president.
"No. None. No. None. I had none. Now, granted, I didn't see Joe Biden every single day. But I did have an opportunity to interact with the president. I never had a concern," said Crockett. "He may get fumbled up by words. But that's not anything new. And it's not anything that (didn't come) with age."
There had been discussion about getting O'Connor to cooperate without a subpoena. Comer contends his investigation isn't about plowing some of the same Biden political fields explored a couple of years ago when it was thought the former president might seek a second term. This isn't about business dealings or Burisma or "influence peddling." But Comer is posing a legitimate question here about the fitness of a president. Any president. Regardless of what Crockett says, there are plenty of questions about Mr. Biden's acuity and whether staff made decisions – in lieu of the president.
And these questions aren't new when it comes to presidential health. President Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke during his time in office. Historians believe First Lady Edith Wilson made decisions on behalf of the president. Questions lingered about President Ronald Reagan. And the Washington press corps was complicit hiding the infirmaries of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from the public in an era before television and social media.
The committee wheels in other former Biden figures in the coming days. That includes former Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain and Anthony Bernal, a top aide to former First Lady Jill Biden.
Because of patient-doctor confidentiality, we may never know O'Connor's true analysis of former President Biden. It's a problem because the public deserves to know if the commander in chief is up to the job.
But there's a special relationship between a patient and their doctor.
The question is whether issues of national security and the administration of government outweigh those private rights.
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