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Former President Joe Biden’s White House doctor pled the Fifth to every question asked by House Oversight Committee experts Wednesday. He doesn’t want to cooperate, but more, he is worried that he’s in real legal jeopardy. He should be worried, and Republicans should play hardball but also keep one thing in mind: Dr. Kevin O’Connor is just a mob doctor — and they’re after the bosses.
The scope of O’Connor’s evasiveness in video released by the committee is wild to watch. Citing his lawyers, he begins by asserting his right not to self-incriminate under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to questions as basic as whether he understands the rules of how questioning will work, a request that he speak clearly and respond to questions verbally, instructions for him to ask for clarity if he doesn't understand a question, and a warning that if he lies or conceals the whole truth, he can be charged with perjury.
Who knew about all this? Who told Biden’s doctor what, and when did they do so? Those people matter more than the doctor, but he could prove useful in getting to them.
Then they got to the meat of it, asking whether there’s “any reason” he would not be truthful in his answers, whether he had ever been asked to lie about the president’s health, and whether he ever believed the president was unfit to “exercise his duties.” Fifth, Fifth, Fifth. Oh, and his lawyers finished up with a statement citing his duty to protect the privacy of the patient-doctor relationship.
Except that wasn’t his only duty. The White House doctor is a military officer charged with legitimately private matters, such as if the president is suffering from some embarrassing discomfort, but also his fitness for exercising the constitutional duties of his office. If the doctor believes the president is unable to serve, he’s required to report this to the Cabinet and potentially answer to Congress. O’Connor clearly felt differently.
“On the advice of counsel, I must respectfully decline to answer in reliance on my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution,” he repeated, verbatim, to every question asked. “I am not a lawyer and must follow my lawyers’ advice on this matter.”
Democrats set a powerful and recent precedent when they charged former White House officials Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro with contempt of Congress and sent both men to prison with thousands of dollars in fines. There are consequences for defying Congress, and the example is fresh in Washington's minds.
Republicans should take this precedent seriously, and by all signs, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is taking it seriously. Prison should be on the docket, and the committee should loudly and publicly make this clear. But putting the doctor in prison should not be the actual goal.
O’Connor is just the equivalent of a mob doctor, and you don’t put mob doctors in prison when you can get more out of them than that. If he needs to plead the Fifth at all, there’s good reason to believe his lawyers know he’s in deep trouble. When he has to plead the Fifth to questions about being asked to lie, it’s a very strong indication that the president’s mental decline was more broadly known — and potentially illegally hidden — from lawful oversight.
We know a neurologist who specializes in Parkinson’s disease visited the Biden White House at least eight times, and we know the White House spokeswoman refused to answer why. So what was the reason?
Who knew about all this? Who told Biden’s doctor what, and when did they do so? Those people matter more than the doctor, but he could prove useful in getting to them. So while Republicans should publicly (and seriously) threaten prison time, in private, they should offer Dr. O’Connor immunity.
There are different types of immunity they can offer, too. There’s transaction immunity, or blanket immunity, from prosecution in exchange for useful evidence that helps the committee move up the totem pole.
Then there's use immunity, which would protect O'Connor from being prosecuted over things he reveals in his testimony or evidence derived from that testimony. That way, if he fails to disclose important details that investigators uncover independently, he can be prosecuted for those — and thus has reason to be entirely and totally truthful and helpful.
There’s even limited-use immunity, which would promise a legal shield over violating certain laws within certain periods of time.
The doctor’s got a lot on his hands here. More, he’s friends with the Biden family, not just a randomly selected military attaché. That bodes poorly for him, but don’t let that distract from the goal of unraveling the plot to the highest levels possible.
The available tools here are extensive. Congress just has to use them.
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