WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 President Joe Biden鈥檚 former White House physician refused on Wednesday to answer questions as part of the House Republican investigation into Biden鈥檚 health in office.
Dr. Kevin O鈥機onnor invoked his rights under the Fifth Amendment during a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, his attorney and lawmakers said.
Republicans on the Oversight Committee last month as part of a their sweeping investigation into Biden鈥檚 health and his mental fitness as president. They claim some policies carried out during Biden's term through the use of may be illegitimate if it's proven the Democrat was mentally incapacitated for some of his term.
Biden has strongly denied that he was not in a right state of mind at any point while in office, calling the claims
David Schertler, one of O鈥機onnor鈥檚 lawyers, said the doctor had 鈥渘o choice鈥 but to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights in testimony before the committee. Schertler cited both O'Connor's responsibilities to protect patient privacy as a doctor and the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into Biden's use of .
Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the Oversight chair, said O鈥機onnor鈥檚 refusal to testify made it 鈥渃lear there was a conspiracy.鈥
鈥淭he American people demand transparency, but Dr. O鈥機onnor would rather conceal the truth,鈥 Comer said in a statement.
Witnesses routinely invoke their Fifth Amendment rights in testimony to Congress. Allies of President Donald Trump, for example, when refusing to testify to the committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by .
Comer has has sought testimony from nearly a dozen former Biden aides as he conducts his investigation, including former White House chiefs of staff Ron Klain and Jeff Zients; former senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn; 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.
He has also issued a subpoena for Anthony Bernal, the former chief of staff to former first lady Jill Biden.
Trump's White House has waived executive privilege, a right that protects many communications between the president and staff from Congress and the courts, for almost all of those senior staffers. That clears the way for those staffers to discuss their conversations with Biden while he was president.
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, dismissed the Republican investigation as a waste of time.
鈥淥versight Republicans could be working to lower costs for American families and conducting oversight of President Trump鈥檚 corruption, but instead are obsessed with the past," he said.
Comer has said his committee will release a report of all its findings after the probe is complete.
