NEW: Trump Steps In, Makes Major Move In Biden Cover-Up Probe

President Donald Trump’s White House is waving executive privilege for a key member of former President Joe Biden, who made a number of eyebrow-raising statements about the former president’s supposed mental fitness as questions swirled about his now obvious cognitive and physical decline. The Biden Administration previously refused to allow former Trump officials, such as […]

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President Donald Trump’s White House is waving executive privilege for a key member of former President Joe Biden, who made a number of eyebrow-raising statements about the former president’s supposed mental fitness as questions swirled about his now obvious cognitive and physical decline. The Biden Administration previously refused to allow former Trump officials, such as Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, to assert executive privilege.

Former White House physician Kevin O’Connor was set to testify this week in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the alleged cover-up surrounding the former president’s decline.

“In light of the unique and extraordinary nature of the matters under investigation, President Trump has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the national interest, and therefore is not justified, with respect to particular subjects within the purview of the House Oversight Committee,” reads a letter that was sent to O’Connor from the White House, which was obtained by Fox News.

“These subjects include your assessment of former President Biden’s fitness for the office of the president and your financial relationship with the Biden family,” the letter continued.

When asked for comment, a representative for O’Connor confirmed that the letter had been received. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) subpoenaed O’Connor last week after the physician refused to appear voluntarily for a transcribed interview with House investigators.

O’Connor’s lawyers had petitioned for a delay over the weekend, calling the scope of the probe “unprecedented.”

“We are unaware of any prior occasion on which a Congressional Committee has subpoenaed a physician to testify about the treatment of an individual patient,” O’Connor’s legal team wrote. “And the notion that a Congressional Committee would do so without any regard whatsoever for the confidentiality of the physician-patient relationship is alarming.”

A spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee referred to the letter as a “delay tactic to stonewall the Oversight Committee’s investigation.”

The deposition date has not been changed, meaning that O’Connor could run the risk of defying a congressional subpoena if he chooses not to appear. Former White House advisors Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon previously refused to comply with a subpoena sent by the highly controversial January 6 committee, which defied decades of House precedent by refusing to allow the opposition party, Republicans at the time, to appoint their own members.

Both Bannon and Navarro cited executive privilege in refusing to comply with the committee’s subpoenas, resulting in prison sentences for both of them.

Now, the Trump Administration is citing the same procedure in compelling O’Connor to testify before the panel without further delay. “The extraordinary events in this matter constitute exceptional circumstances warranting an accommodation to Congress. Evidence that aides to former President Biden concealed information regarding his fitness to exercise the powers of the President — and may have unconstitutionally exercised those powers themselves to aid in their concealment — implicates both Congress’ constitutional and legislative powers,” reads the letter sent by the White House’s counsel office.

“After balancing the Legislative and Executive Branch interests, as required under the accommodation process, it is the President’s view that this presents and exceptional situation in which the congressional need for information outweighs the Executive Branch’s interest in maintaining confidentiality, especially given the Executive Branch’s own interest in determining the validity of prior executive actions,” the letter said.

Several senior aides to former president Biden have come under scrutiny due to former President Biden’s obvious signs of physical and mental decline, which they claimed was a fabrication for several months. The former president’s disastrous debate performance last June, as well as his recent advanced cancer diagnosis despite regular screenings, has led to a House investigation into the matter.

Comer has subpoenaed a number of former top Biden aides for closed-door interviews, including O’Connor, former Chief of Staff Ronald Klain, and former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Former staff secretary Neera Tanden sat for a transcribed interview last month.