Latest news with #mentalfitness
CNN
09-07-2025
- Health
- CNN
Biden's physician refuses to answer questions from Republicans in House probe of former president's mental fitness
Joe Biden's White House physician on Wednesday declined to answer questions during a closed-door deposition with the House Oversight Committee, invoking his Fifth Amendment right as the Republican-led panel pushes forward in its probe of the former president's mental fitness and decline. While Dr. Kevin O'Connor appeared on Capitol Hill Wednesday, his attorneys said he 'respectfully declined to answer any questions' from the panel, which had refused to limit the scope of the interview – imperiling, they said, his 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. Dr. O'Connor will not violate his oath of confidentiality to any of his patients, including President Biden,' O'Connor's attorneys said in a statement on his behalf. The investigation is the latest front in the GOP push to expose alleged cover-ups by Biden and his inner circle that had fallen dormant in the last Congress. Republicans say the interviews are critical to supporting claims of the former president's cognitive decline in the final days of his administration. Democrats, meanwhile, have dismissed the probe in its entirety as a political stunt. The panel subpoenaed O'Connor in June after first seeking a voluntary interview, and has requested interviews with nearly a dozen former White House aides in recent months. But the interviews, which began as voluntary appearances, have grown increasingly contentious after President Donald Trump waived executive privilege for the physician and others. O'Connor's team on Wednesday argued the panel should pause its probe until the Department of Justice concludes its separate criminal investigation into his predecessor's actions and use of the autopen, which Trump had ordered in a memorandum. 'We believe that the Committee should hold its investigation in abeyance until any criminal investigation has concluded,' O'Connor's team said. A committee aide pushed back on the notion that O'Connor pleaded the Fifth Amendment because of doctor-patient privilege, arguing the physician did not answer any questions beyond his name. Invoking the Fifth Amendment is typically done to avoid answering specific questions. Though it can be perceived by the public as a way of avoiding accountability, the US Supreme Court has long regarded the right against self-incrimination as a venerable part of the Constitution and, in legal proceedings, tried to ensure that a witness' silence not be viewed as evidence of guilt. Following O'Connor's departure, House Oversight Chair James Comer accused the doctor of wanting to 'conceal the truth.' 'The American people demand transparency, but Dr. O'Connor would rather conceal the truth. 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,' the Kentucky Republican said in a statement. The committee still has multiple interviews scheduled throughout the summer. Unable to invoke executive privilege to avoid answering questions, some witnesses have already sought to stave them off. Former Biden aide Anthony Bernal withdrew from a voluntary interview last month after the White House counsel's office made clear that privilege would be waived. Comer then subpoenaed Bernal for his testimony. At least one interview has already led to a dispute over testimony. Comer claimed that Neera Tanden, Biden's director of the Domestic Policy Council, told the committee during her voluntary closed-door interview last month that she had 'no visibility' into how the approval for Biden's autopen signatures worked – a point that Republicans have latched onto. A Democratic committee official, however, swiftly pushed back on that characterization, saying that Tanden 'repeatedly and explicitly confirmed that she received President Biden's written sign-off on every executive action she presented him with.' 'Any other characterization is a distortion of the testimony,' the official told CNN at the time. Interview transcripts from Tanden's appearance have not yet been released. The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, criticized the Republican effort, saying the GOP is more concerned with the former president's health than their constituents' access to health care. '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 in a statement. One Biden ally accused Republicans of playing politics with the congressional inquiry. 'It's an attempt to smear and embarrass. And their hope is for just one tiny inconsistency between witnesses to appear so that Trump's DOJ can prosecute his political opponents and continue his campaign of revenge,' the person told CNN.
CNN
09-07-2025
- Health
- CNN
Biden's physician refuses to answer questions from Republicans in House probe of former president's mental fitness
Joe Biden's White House physician on Wednesday declined to answer questions during a closed-door deposition with the House Oversight Committee, invoking his Fifth Amendment right as the Republican-led panel pushes forward in its probe of the former president's mental fitness and decline. While Dr. Kevin O'Connor appeared on Capitol Hill Wednesday, his attorneys said he 'respectfully declined to answer any questions' from the panel, which had refused to limit the scope of the interview – imperiling, they said, his 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. Dr. O'Connor will not violate his oath of confidentiality to any of his patients, including President Biden,' O'Connor's attorneys said in a statement on his behalf. The investigation is the latest front in the GOP push to expose alleged cover-ups by Biden and his inner circle that had fallen dormant in the last Congress. Republicans say the interviews are critical to supporting claims of the former president's cognitive decline in the final days of his administration. Democrats, meanwhile, have dismissed the probe in its entirety as a political stunt. The panel subpoenaed O'Connor in June after first seeking a voluntary interview, and has requested interviews with nearly a dozen former White House aides in recent months. But the interviews, which began as voluntary appearances, have grown increasingly contentious after President Donald Trump waived executive privilege for the physician and others. O'Connor's team on Wednesday argued the panel should pause its probe until the Department of Justice concludes its separate criminal investigation into his predecessor's actions and use of the autopen, which Trump had ordered in a memorandum. 'We believe that the Committee should hold its investigation in abeyance until any criminal investigation has concluded,' O'Connor's team said. A committee aide pushed back on the notion that O'Connor pleaded the Fifth Amendment because of doctor-patient privilege, arguing the physician did not answer any questions beyond his name. Invoking the Fifth Amendment is typically done to avoid answering specific questions. Though it can be perceived by the public as a way of avoiding accountability, the US Supreme Court has long regarded the right against self-incrimination as a venerable part of the Constitution and, in legal proceedings, tried to ensure that a witness' silence not be viewed as evidence of guilt. Following O'Connor's departure, House Oversight Chair James Comer accused the doctor of wanting to 'conceal the truth.' 'The American people demand transparency, but Dr. O'Connor would rather conceal the truth. 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,' the Kentucky Republican said in a statement. The committee still has multiple interviews scheduled throughout the summer. Unable to invoke executive privilege to avoid answering questions, some witnesses have already sought to stave them off. Former Biden aide Anthony Bernal withdrew from a voluntary interview last month after the White House counsel's office made clear that privilege would be waived. Comer then subpoenaed Bernal for his testimony. At least one interview has already led to a dispute over testimony. Comer claimed that Neera Tanden, Biden's director of the Domestic Policy Council, told the committee during her voluntary closed-door interview last month that she had 'no visibility' into how the approval for Biden's autopen signatures worked – a point that Republicans have latched onto. A Democratic committee official, however, swiftly pushed back on that characterization, saying that Tanden 'repeatedly and explicitly confirmed that she received President Biden's written sign-off on every executive action she presented him with.' 'Any other characterization is a distortion of the testimony,' the official told CNN at the time. Interview transcripts from Tanden's appearance have not yet been released. The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, criticized the Republican effort, saying the GOP is more concerned with the former president's health than their constituents' access to health care. '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 in a statement. One Biden ally accused Republicans of playing politics with the congressional inquiry. 'It's an attempt to smear and embarrass. And their hope is for just one tiny inconsistency between witnesses to appear so that Trump's DOJ can prosecute his political opponents and continue his campaign of revenge,' the person told CNN.
Fox News
08-07-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Former Biden doctor asks to delay testimony to House committee investigating mental fitness
Former White House physician Kevin O'Connor, who served as doctor to former President Joe Biden, requested a delay to his upcoming testimony before the House Oversight Committee this week. O'Connor was scheduled to testify on Wednesday, but is now in a disagreement with the committee over the scope of the questions he will be expected to answer during his testimony. The committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is interviewing the doctor as part of its investigation into Biden's mental fitness and his administration's use of an autopen. A lawyer for O'Connor requested the testimony be delayed to July 28 or August 4 in a letter to Comer. "Dr. O'Connor has legal and ethical obligations that he must satisfy and for which violations carry serious consequences to him professionally and personally," the letter says. "We are unaware of any prior occasion on which a Congressional Committee has subpoenaed a physician to testify about the treatment of an individual patient. And the notion that a Congressional Committee would do so without any regard whatsoever for the confidentiality of the physician-patient relationship is alarming." A spokesman for the Oversight Committee replied in a statement to NBC News that O'Connor and his legal team were merely trying to "stonewall" the process. The committee said O'Connor is welcome to object to individual questions during his testimony. But O'Connor is not allowed, in the committee's view, to delay or decline a congressional subpoena due to concerns over questions about potentially privileged information. The debate over O'Connor's testimony comes weeks after a former top aide to Biden, Neera Tanden, told the Oversight Committee that she was authorized to direct autopen signatures but was unaware of who in the president's inner circle was giving her final clearance. During Tanden's interview before Congress last month, which lasted more than five hours, she told lawmakers that, in her role as staff secretary and senior advisor to the former president between 2021 and 2023, she was authorized to direct autopen signatures on behalf of Biden, an Oversight Committee official told Fox News. "Ms. Tanden testified that she had minimal interaction with President Biden, despite wielding tremendous authority," Comer said at the time. "She explained that to obtain approval for autopen signatures, she would send decision memos to members of the President's inner circle and had no visibility of what occurred between sending the memo and receiving it back with approval. Her testimony raises serious questions about who was really calling the shots in the Biden White House amid the President's obvious decline. We will continue to pursue the truth for the American people."
CBS News
27-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Former top aide to Jill Biden subpoenaed in House GOP's Biden age probe
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have subpoenaed Anthony Bernal, a senior aide to former first lady Jill Biden, as part of their rapidly expanding investigation into former President Joe Biden's mental fitness while in office. The subpoena — signed Thursday by Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican Oversight chairman — requires Bernal to appear for a deposition on July 16. It came after several weeks of back-and-forth with Bernal's lawyer over the timing of a voluntary interview, which Comer says ended with Bernal withdrawing from an interview scheduled for Thursday. "Given your close connection with both former President Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden, the Committee sought to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden's fitness to serve from the American people," a cover letter for the subpoena reads. "To avoid any further delays, your appearance before the Committee is now compelled." Bernal is the second former Biden staffer to be subpoenaed by the committee and unlikely to be the last. The committee this week heard voluntary testimony from Neera Tanden, a former director of Biden's domestic policy counsel, and is intent on securing interviews with several other members of Biden's inner circle as part of its investigation. CBS News has reached out to Bernal's attorney for comment. Comer has also subpoenaed Dr. Kevin O'Connor, who served as Biden's physician at the White House. O'Connor will testify before the committee on July 9. The committee said it compelled O'Connor to testify after his lawyers said he could not appear for an interview, arguing it would violate local laws and ethical rules against doctors disclosing confidential medical information. It's all part of a Republican effort, supported by President Trump, to investigate the last occupant of the Oval Office. Mr. Trump himself has ordered White House lawyers and the Justice Department to investigate Biden's aides, questioning the legitimacy of his alleged use of the autopen to sign pardons and other documents. Mr. Trump has long suggested that the use of autopen could nullify some of Biden's executive actions, an idea some legal experts have pushed back on. In a statement earlier this month, Biden called the attacks "ridiculous and false," and said, "I made the decisions during my presidency," including on pardons. Boosting the GOP investigation, Mr. Trump has waived executive privilege for eight former Biden administration officials to testify to Congress, including Bernal, a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and insisted on anonymity told the Associated Press. Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that allows presidents to keep certain internal communications secret. With the privilege lifted, former staffers are free to discuss their interactions with Biden while he was president. Comer said Bernal's attorneys had initially offered to do a transcribed interview on Thursday, but then on Wednesday, his lawyers told the committee he was not willing to appear voluntarily on that date. Comer accused him of "running scared" after the privilege was waived. In addition to Bernal, executive privilege has been waived for Biden White House senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn, former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, former counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti, former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and a former assistant to the president, Ashley Williams. Comer is seeking interviews with all of them. Democrats have dismissed the inquiry into Biden's mental state as a partisan exercise that distracts from other pressing issues. Rep. Wesley Bell, a Missouri Democrat who sits on the Oversight committee, said after the interview with Tanden that it "was an extraordinary waste of time" and produced "no new evidence." Bell said lawmakers should focus on issues like the costs of food, housing and potential changes to healthcare policy rather than "dig up some kind of post-impeachment, or whatever we're doing here." The unfolding investigation has grown in scope in recent weeks, as new reporting emerges about Biden's final year in office — including concerns about his age and the circumstances of his decision not to run for reelection. Biden has long denied that his cognitive abilities had faded while in office. The probe could have significant implications for politics and policy. Republican lawmakers have argued that any executive actions or policies enacted through the autopen procedure could be found invalid if Biden were somehow incapacitated or not of a sound state of mind while in office. Mr. Trump and his allies have claimed, without evidence, that Biden was not aware of the actions his administration had taken on a range of issues, including on pardons, environmental policy and labor rights, among other issues. A move to reverse such executive actions, which would almost certainly face legal scrutiny and a battle in the courts, could impact scores of executive orders taken throughout Biden's term. "Let this subpoena send a clear message to Biden's inner circle: We will stop at nothing to expose the truth about Joe Biden's decline (and) unauthorized use of the autopen," Comer wrote on social media.
Al Arabiya
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Former Top Aide to Jill Biden Is Subpoenaed by House Oversight Panel
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena Thursday to Anthony Bernal, a senior aide to former first lady Jill Biden, as part of their rapidly expanding investigation into former President Joe Biden's mental fitness while in office. The subpoena, signed by Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican Oversight chairman, requires Bernal to appear for a deposition on July 16. It came after several weeks of back-and-forth with Bernal's lawyer over the timing of a voluntary interview. 'Given your close connection with both former President Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden, the Committee sought to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden's fitness to serve from the American people,' the subpoena reads. 'To avoid any further delays, your appearance before the Committee is now compelled.' Bernal is the second former Biden staffer to be subpoenaed by the committee and unlikely to be the last. The committee this week heard voluntary testimony from Neera Tanden, a former director of Biden's domestic policy counsel, and is intent on securing interviews with several other members of Biden's inner circle as part of its investigation. Bernal did not respond Thursday to a message seeking comment. Comer has also subpoenaed Kevin O'Connor, who served as Biden's physician at the White House. O'Connor will testify before the committee on July 9. It's all part of a remarkable Republican effort, supported by President Donald Trump, to investigate the last occupant of the Oval Office six months after he left office. Trump himself has ordered White House lawyers and the Justice Department to investigate Biden, questioning the legitimacy of his use of the autopen to sign pardons and other documents. Boosting the GOP investigation, Trump has waived executive privilege for eight former Biden administration officials to testify to Congress, including Bernal, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and insisted on anonymity. With the privilege lifted, former staffers are free to discuss their interactions with Biden while he was president. In addition to Bernal, executive privilege has been waived for Biden White House senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn; former White House chief of staff Ron Klain; former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed; former counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti; former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini; and a former assistant to the president, Ashley Williams. Comer is seeking interviews with all of them. Democrats have dismissed the inquiry into Biden's mental state as a partisan exercise that distracts from other pressing issues. Rep. Wesley Bell, a Missouri Democrat who sits on the Oversight committee, said after the interview with Tanden that it was 'an extraordinary waste of time' and produced no new evidence. Bell said lawmakers should focus on issues like the costs of food, housing, and potential changes to healthcare policy rather than 'dig up some kind of post-impeachment or whatever we're doing here.' The unfolding investigation has significant implications for politics and policy. Republican lawmakers have argued that any executive actions or policies enacted through the autopen procedure could be found invalid if Biden were somehow incapacitated or not of a sound state of mind while in office. Trump and his allies have claimed, without evidence, that Biden was not aware of the actions his administration had taken on a range of issues, including presidential pardons, environmental policy, and labor rights, among other issues. A move to reverse such executive actions, which would almost certainly face legal scrutiny and a battle in the courts, could impact scores of executive orders taken throughout Biden's term. 'Let this subpoena send a clear message to Biden's inner circle: We will stop at nothing to expose the truth about Joe Biden's decline (and) unauthorized use of the autopen,' Comer wrote on social media. Trump this month directed his administration to investigate Biden's actions as president, arguing that aides engaged in a conspiracy to mask Biden's mental state. Senate Republicans have also launched their own inquiries. 'We need to know who was in charge during the last months of the Biden administration. Was it his wife, his chief of staff, nameless others? None of these people were elected by the American people, nor were they authorized by the Constitution and laws of the US to carry out the duties of the president of the US,' Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said during a June hearing.
