Former President Joe Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, showed up for his deposition on Wednesday after being subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into the alleged cover-up of Biden’s health decline.
O’Connor entered the Rayburn House Office building hearing room at 9:36 a.m. and didn’t take any questions from reporters
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WHO IS DR. KEVIN O’CONNOR? MEET BIDEN’S FORMER WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN
O’Connor’s appearance marks the second for a former Biden aide after Neera Tanden appeared for a daylong interview before Oversight’s majority and minority counsel last month. The doctor showed up despite a request to delay his hearing and the White House waiving him from executive privilege.
President Donald Trump waived executive privilege Tuesday ahead of the Wednesday closed-door hearing. Executive privilege allows the witness to withhold information from Congress to protect the integrity of the executive branch. The rest of the witnesses in this investigation will also be denied the same protections as the investigation progresses.
O’Connor’s lawyers sent a request Saturday to delay his deposition before the counsel, saying the doctor could face “serious consequences” for violating his obligations as a physician, including losing his medical license. House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) declined the request.
“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,” the physician’s lawyers wrote. “And the notion that a Congressional Committee would do so without any regard whatsoever for the confidentiality of the physician-patient relationship is alarming.”
FIVE MORE BIDEN AIDES LOCK IN TESTIMONY DATES FOR HOUSE OVERSIGHT AUTOPEN INVESTIGATION
The transcripts are slated to be made public, according to a spokesperson for the committee. Comer told the Washington Examiner last month that no interviews will be released before all of them have concluded. Transcribed interviews are typically conducted by committee staff over the course of several hours, and both parties are granted extended time for questioning, compared to the five-minute increments afforded to members during publicly televised hearings.
Interviews are set to take place until August 7 with former Jill Biden aide Anthony Bernal set to appear on July 16 for a deposition after being subpoenaed for refusing to appear before the committee to testify as part of the committee’s investigation, following the White House telling the witnesses they were not protected by executive privilege.