A congressional committee on Thursday subpoenaed former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, ordering him to appear for a transcribed interview about his medical assessments of former President Joseph R. Biden.
Dr. O’Connor has twice been summoned for an interview with lawmakers but has declined to appear voluntarily.
He’s been criticized for claiming Mr. Biden, now 82, was fit for office, despite signs of decline. Last month, Mr. Biden announced he was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer.
Lawmakers want to know more about Dr. O’Connor’s role in assessing and treating Mr. Biden amid new reports that the former president was suffering from significant cognitive and physical decline and was unable to fully carry out the duties of the office.
“The committee sought to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden’s fitness to serve from the American people,” wrote House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, to Dr. O’Connor.
Dr. O’Connor has refused to appear, asserting physician-patient privilege. House Republicans, however, say his claim is unsupported by federal law.
House lawmakers also rejected Dr. O’Connor’s offer to answer a set of written questions that unnamed medical experts would then closely evaluate.
Dr. O’Connor had been Mr. Biden’s longtime doctor and family friend by the time he became White House physician. He also helped Mr. Biden’s younger brother James Biden navigate a business proposal involving rural hospitals.
“Doc O’Connor,” as the president and his family call him, issued a medical report in February 2024 that belied what many in the public were seeing in the aging president. It declared him “a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”
Mr. Comer is also poised to subpoena eight of Mr. Biden’s former top White House aides if they refuse to provide voluntary interviews about their role in concealing Mr. Biden’s cognitive decline and acting on his behalf.
The House investigation into Mr. Biden is separate from a new probe launched this week by the Trump administration.
President Trump on Wednesday ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the Biden administration’s use of the autopen and alleged actions by aides to hide Mr. Biden’s cognitive decline amid reports the former president was checked out and aides were running the country.
In an order released by the White House, the president called for Ms. Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington to investigate “whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden’s mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the President.”
Mr. Trump said the validity of Mr. Biden’s actions could be questioned if it turns out aides acted in his place.
Mr. Biden on Thursday insisted in a statement that he alone made the decisions in the White House.
“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency,” he said. “I made the decisions about pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.