Former Biden doctor takes the Fifth, refuses to cooperate in GOP House probe

Biden White House Dr. Kevin O'Connor has invoked his Fifth Amendment rights in deciding not to comply with a House subpoena to give scheduled, closed-door testimony Wednesday morning as part of the GOP-led chamber's probe into Biden’s mental acuity and whether his inner circle tried to conceal a cognitive decline from the public.

O'Connor is among several members of Biden's inner circle being called to testify on the matter.

“On the advice of his legal counsel, Dr. O’Connor refused to answer questions that invaded the well-established legal privilege that protects confidential matters between physicians and their patients,” a statement from O'Connor's attorneys reads, Politico reported.

In the days before his scheduled testimony, O'Connor asked for essentially blanket exemption, citing doctor-patient privilege.

In addition, O'Connor's lawyer sent a letter Saturday to the committee asking that his client's testimony be postponed to either the last week of July or the first week of August "to reach an accommodation that will protect the very substantial privilege and confidentiality interests of Dr. O’Connor and former President Biden."

Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in his subpoena of O'Connor in June that physician-patient privilege claims under the American Medical Association’s code of ethics “lack merit” because that code is not part of federal law. 

He also argued the committee's subpoena follows AMA's requirement that physicians must share a patient’s medical information if “legally compelled to disclose the information” or “ordered to do so by legally constituted authority.”

The Trump administration on Tuesday evening waived executive privilege for O'Connor to testify before the House committee.