Biden’s former doctor asks to delay testimony to House panel, citing patient privilege concerns

By MATT BROWN and MICHELLE L PRICE Associated Press WASHINGTON AP Former President Joe Biden s physician has solicited to delay his testimony before the House oversight committee this week citing the need for an agreement that will respect doctor-patient confidentiality rules as part of the research into Biden s wellbeing in office Dr Kevin O Connor who served as Biden s physician at the White House requested a delay until the end of July or early August to reach an accommodation that will protect the very substantial privilege and confidentiality interests of Dr O Connor and former President Biden according to a letter from his lawyer sent to Rep James Comer of Kentucky on Saturday The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter A spokesperson for Oversight Republicans commented the committee will follow the House s deposition guidelines which allow for observers to assert privilege on a question-by-question basis with the committee chair ruling on each claim But O Connor is not allowed in the committee s view to delay or decline a congressional subpoena due to concerns over questions about potentially privileged information The back-and-forth is part of a broader struggle over the scope of the House Republican inquiry into Biden s age and mental fitness with serious implications for both politics and protocol Republicans have also claimed that selected policies carried out by the White House autopen may be invalid if it is proven that Biden was mentally incapacitated for specific part of his term Biden has strongly denied proposes that he was not in a right state of mind at any point while in office calling the contends ridiculous and false Related Articles RFK Jr promoted a food company he says will make Americans healthy Their meals are ultraprocessed Elon Musk says he s formed a new political party But it s not clear if he really has Temporary status to be removed from roughly Hondurans Nicaraguans after years in US What to know about a probable deal to keep TikTok running in US Trump is reshaping a learner loan forgiveness activity Certain fear politics will decide who qualifies The House Oversight Committee first requested O Connor testify before the committee last July but the Biden White House blocked his testimony Comer renewed his request in May and later subpoenaed the clinician in June David Schertler the attorney for O Connor in the letter stated the committee is refusing to accommodate to any degree Dr O Connor s objections over protecting privilege He stated the committee s decision was unprecedented and alarming and warned that it threatened broader principles around clinical privacy Scherlter reported O Connor could face serious consequences for violating his obligations as a specialist including losing his anatomical license In a June subpoena of O Connor Comer stated that indicates of physician-patient privilege under the American Physiological Association s code of ethics lack merit because that code is not part of federal law He disclosed the committee s subpoena meets the AMA s own requirement that physicians must share a individual s therapeutic information if legally compelled to disclose the information or ordered to do so by legally constituted authority Comer has promised that the committee will make all its findings inhabitants in a record after the inquiry has finished He has subpoenaed O Connor and Anthony Bernal former chief of staff to former first lady Jill Biden The committee last month heard voluntary testimony from Neera Tanden former director of Biden s domestic plan counsel The committee has also requested the testimony of nearly a dozen former senior Biden aides 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 The Trump White House has waived executive privilege a principle that protects countless communications between the president and staff from Congress and the courts for almost senior former Biden staffers That move clears the way for those staffers to discuss their conversations with Biden while he was president While the privilege can apply to former staffers the decision of whether to waive it is decided by the sitting administration