President Biden’s White House physician helped the Biden family secure a big payout from a failed hospital venture in 2018, and lawmakers are now questioning whether his doctor’s involvement in family business marred his objectivity in diagnosing Mr. Biden’s cognitive abilities.
The new questions about White House physician Kevin O’Connor’s medical judgment arose amid rapidly growing concerns among voters and Democratic Party leaders about Mr. Biden’s fitness for duty and whether he should run for reelection.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer wrote to Dr. O’Connor on Sunday, requesting that he appear for questioning before the panel about his involvement in the Biden family business and his objectivity in assessing the president’s mental and physical fitness.
Lawmakers are also seeking answers from Dr. O’Connor about conflicting statements about Mr. Biden’s medical care by Mr. Biden and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre following the debate in Atlanta on June 27.
The president told Democratic governors in a meeting on Friday he had been checked out by a doctor and was “fine,” while Ms. Jean-Pierre told reporters he had not had a medical exam.
“The statements by the White House Press Secretary and President Biden appear inconsistent, and the Committee seeks to understand the extent of your role at the White House at this time,” Mr. Comer, Kentucky Republican, wrote to Dr. O’Connor. “Given your connections with the Biden family, the Committee also seeks to understand if you are in a position to provide accurate and independent reviews of the President’s fitness to serve.”
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The White House did not respond to an inquiry about the letter from The Washington Times.
The 81-year-old president is fighting to stay on the 2024 ticket following a disastrous debate performance and a series of interviews and appearances that have failed to quell concerns about him being too old to serve a second term effectively.
Neurosurgeons and cognitive specialists who haven’t examined him but observed his behavior said Mr. Biden could be suffering from Parkinson’s disease or dementia.
Dr. O’Connor, however, has never recommended the president take a cognitive test, and Mr. Biden and White House aides have referred to Dr. O’Connor’s glowing annual health assessments when questioned about the president’s fitness for office.
In February, Dr. O’Connor determined Mr. Biden is “a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”
Lawmakers are now questioning Dr. O’Connor’s medical independence, pointing to his involvement in helping the president’s younger brother pull in $600,000 from a deal with Americore, a rural hospital corporation, beginning in 2017.
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Some of the money from the deal Dr. O’Connor helped secure went directly into Mr. Biden’s bank account in the form of a $200,000 check labeled as a loan repayment, House investigators determined.
The president’s brother James Biden told House lawmakers in a closed-door deposition earlier this year that Dr. O’Connor served essentially as a consultant in helping him come up with proposals for “filling these hospitals” from which Americore sought to profit.
At the time, Mr. Biden had just left office and Dr. O’Connor had also departed the White House, where he had been serving as the then-vice president’s personal physician.
Dr. O’Connor, James Biden testified, helped him win the hefty payment from Americore by introducing him to “a team” of people interested in providing care for post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans waiting in line for treatment at the VA hospitals.
“I thought that if we followed the same protocols that the VA does with post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism — that there was a backlog at the VA. So [Dr. O’Connor] introduced me to a team,” James Biden testified.
A Republican committee aide said lawmakers have not determined whether Dr. O’Connor received payment from the Bidens for his participation in the Americore business scheme.
“We are investigating that issue and have not subpoenaed his bank records at this time but it is clear Jim Biden did profit and included O’Connor in dealings with Americore,” an aide said. “That’s why O’Connor needs to come in for a transcribed interview.”
The letter to Dr. O’Connor requests “all documents and communications,” involving Americore and James Biden.
Dr. O’Connor is a retired Army colonel and doctor of osteopathic medicine who began serving in the White House physician’s office in 2006. He was named physician to the vice president in 2009 and became particularly close to the Biden family.
In Mr. Biden’s memoir, “Promise Me, Dad,” son Beau Biden, who was dying of brain cancer, “grabbed Doc’s hand” on the way into surgery and told him, “No matter what happens. Take care of Pop. For real. Promise me. For real.”
While James Biden secured a lucrative payout from Americore, the venture failed.
Americore sued James Biden in 2022. Court records indicate that Americore partnered with him in 2017 specifically to help expand the business through his political connections.
According to court documents and House investigators, James Biden promised “access to a future Biden administration and the highest levels of government … and that his brother, Joe Biden, had been made aware of the business, which would be made profitable when it could become part of the Biden platform.”
Congressional investigators said a witness in the lawsuit stated that James Biden suggested in phone conversations with Americore executives “that Joe Biden was in the room with him and James had been explaining the deal to him.”
Americore charged in court that James Biden never delivered on his promise to bring in large investments from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where he allegedly developed relationships during his brother’s time as vice president.
James Biden received $600,000 in loans from Americore, including $200,000 wired into the personal bank account he shared with his wife, Sara Biden, on March 1, 2018.
The same day, James Biden wrote a $200,000 check from the same personal bank account to Mr. Biden. It was labeled a loan repayment.
In his testimony, James Biden said he obtained short-term loans from his brother as a private citizen and repaid them within weeks.
“He had no information at all about the source of the funds I used to repay him,” James Biden said in his written statement. “The complete explanation is that Joe lent me money and I repaid him as soon as I had the funds to do so.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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