President Biden’s former White House physician — one Kevin O’Connor refused on Wednesday to answer questions as part of the House Republican investigation into Biden’s health in office. According to O’Connor’s own attorney and others, O’Connor pleaded the Fifth Amendment during a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee. Short story even shorter — like Melville’s Bartleby, he would prefer not to.
National Review’s James Lynch reports here, the AP here, CBS News here.
The Committee press release adds this salient detail: “O’Connor took the Fifth when asked if he was told to lie about President Biden’s health and whether he was fit to be President of the United States.” He may have volunteered his lies without being asked, but I’ll take that as a “yes.”
The Wall Street Journal’s James Freeman goes to the trouble of recalling O’Connor’s memorandum dated February 28, 2024 on Biden’s condition:
As requested by the patient, the following is a summary of the current health status of President Joseph R. Biden. The President feels well and this year’s physical identified no new concerns. He continues to be fit for duty and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations.
The report continued:
As in previous years, I have conducted a comprehensive review of President Biden’s medical history and performed a detailed physical examination. This physical has again included specialty consultation with several of our Presidential Specialty Consultants from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. These specialties have included Optometry, Dentistry, Orthopedics (Foot and Ankle), Orthopedics (Spine), Physical Therapy, Neurology, Sleep Medicine, Cardiology, Radiology and Dermatology. Each of these specialists have independently reviewed the chart, examined the President, and concur with my findings and recommendations. I have also solicited feedback from my respected colleagues – the other physicians in the White House Medical Unit, who see the patient every day. Each of these doctors has reviewed my report for accuracy. My conclusions have been further informed through discussions with several of my fellow professors from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
And the report concluded:
President Biden is a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief.
What do you think the odds are that Biden could have passed Medicare’s pitiful cognitive assessment test? I would approximate the chances somewhere between zero and zero. Maybe that’s why the report doesn’t mention a cognitive test.
James Freeman comments: “What a disgrace.” True — but also a complete and utter farce.
