Former President Joe Biden’s longtime physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during a closed-door congressional deposition on Wednesday, declining to answer questions about Biden’s mental fitness and alleged use of autopen signatures for executive actions.
The deposition, which lasted around an hour, was part of an ongoing House Oversight Committee investigation into Biden’s cognitive condition during his presidency. Chairman James Comer (R-KY) led the session, which was conducted behind closed doors on Capitol Hill.
O’Connor’s attorneys explained their client’s refusal to testify by citing doctor-patient confidentiality and a pending Department of Justice criminal investigation. They said these factors left the physician with “no choice” but to plead the Fifth.
Comer accused O’Connor of stonewalling. “It’s now clear there was a conspiracy to cover up President Biden’s cognitive decline,” Comer said in a post to X. “Dr. Kevin O’Connor… refused to answer any questions and chose to hide behind the Fifth Amendment.”
Comer claimed O’Connor refused to say whether he was instructed to lie about Biden’s health. “Congress must assess legislative solutions to prevent such a cover-up from happening again,” he added. “We will continue to interview more Biden White House aides to get the answers Americans deserve.”
The deposition followed former President Trump’s decision to waive executive privilege. That move also cleared the way for Neera Tanden, Biden’s former Domestic Policy Council director, to testify last month. Tanden denied there was any cover-up of Biden’s condition.
Democrats have dismissed the GOP-led investigation as a political stunt. “The only thing extraordinary that came out of that deposition was it was an extraordinary waste of time,” Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) told reporters.
Biden, 82, dropped out of the 2024 presidential race following a disastrous debate performance against Trump. A forthcoming book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, which alleges a coordinated “cover-up” of Biden’s mental decline, has further fueled scrutiny.
Trump has launched a separate investigation into whether autopen signatures were improperly used to hide Biden’s incapacity. He claims this could call into question the legality of some executive actions. Biden, meanwhile, has forcefully denied those claims, stating, “Any suggestion that I didn’t [make the decisions] is ridiculous and false.”