President Biden’s former personal physician says he would like to delay his testimony to the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating the 46th president’s mental and physical decline as well as the alleged coverup by staff. Dr. Kevin O’Connor was the personal physician for Mr. Biden for the better part of two decades. 

According to a letter sent to the Oversight Committee chairman, Congressman James Comer, by Dr. O’Connor’s attorney, he is concerned about doctor–patient confidentiality issues. The letter was first obtained by the Associated Press. 

Dr. O’Connor’s attorney, David Schertler, said in the letter that the physician would like “to reach an accommodation that will protect the very substantial privilege and confidentiality interests of Dr. O’Connor and former President Biden.”

Mr. Schertler further accuses Mr. Comer and his Republican colleagues of not even attempting to “accommodate to any degree Dr. O’Connor’s objections” to testifying before the committee about Mr. Biden’s health. Mr. Schertler calls the move “unprecedented” and “alarming.”

Mr. Comer had invited Dr. O’Connor to speak voluntarily to his committee about the former president’s mental and physical decline, though he declined through his lawyers for both legal and ethical reasons. Dr. O’Connor’s lawyer wrote to Mr. Comer back in June to say that he would not testify, citing local Washington, D.C., law, the American Medical Association’s code of ethics, and the principle of doctor–patient confidentiality. 

Mr. Comer later issued a subpoena for Dr. O’Connor. He is the only person to face a subpoena thus far in the 119th Congress’s investigation of Mr. Biden’s health, though the Oversight chairman did issue other top Biden aides last year. They all invoked executive privilege and declined to be interviewed.

Dr. O’Connor was the chief physician to the vice president for Mr. Biden from 2009 to 2017. He was retained by the Bidens as their family physician until Mr. Biden returned to elected office, at which time he was named the White House physician. 

The subpoena for Dr. O’Connor states that Mr. Comer is seeking “information about your assessment of and relationship with former President Biden to explore whether the time has come for Congress to revisit potential legislation to address the oversight of presidents’ fitness to serve pursuant to its authority under Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.”

According to the book “Original Sin” from journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, Dr. O’Connor once joked to White House staff that they were trying to kill the president with a full schedule, even as he was trying to keep him alive. Dr. O’Connor also reportedly mused about the possibility of Mr. Biden having to use a wheelchair during his second term. 

After issuing his subpoena for Dr. O’Connor, Mr. Comer told the Sun that he was more than ready to send out more subpoenas for other staff who refuse to come in voluntarily. He also said criminal referrals would be on the table should they defy those subpoenas, and that he was confident that Attorney General Bondi would prosecute, if necessary. 

“We’re hoping they come in voluntarily … If they refuse, I will subpoena them,” Mr. Comer said of additional White House aides coming in to testify. 

“If they defy the subpoena, then there will be criminal referrals,” Mr. Comer said. “It’s a different deal with the criminal referrals now, referring to Ms. Bondi. 

“The people we’ve asked to come in will come in,” the chairman added. “I think the American people are curious as to who was calling the shots at the White House.”

Several other Biden aides have already agreed to come in by their own volition. The former senior advisor, White House staff secretary, and chairwoman of the Domestic Policy Council — Neera Tanden — testified to the Oversight Committee last month that she never saw that president significantly decline in any way. She confirmed that she was, in part, responsible for the use of the president’s autopen in order to manage the president’s workflow. 

First lady Jill Biden’s chief of staff and “work husband” Anthony Bernal has also been subpoenaed by the committee for an interview, though he has yet to respond. Other aides who are coming in voluntarily include chief of staff Ron Klain, senior advisor Anita Dunn, and deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed.