Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo is calling for a deeper investigation into what he believes could be a deliberate effort to hide information about former President Joe Biden’s health status.

Yoo made the comments during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime,” where he said a congressional committee, paired with a special counsel, could effectively unveil any potential misconduct surrounding President Biden’s condition, including the origins of his recently announced cancer, as Breitbart reports.

The legal notable appeared on the show Friday, which was guest-hosted by Kayleigh McEnany, former White House press secretary under President Donald Trump. McEnany questioned him about his perspective on launching a formal inquiry into Biden’s health disclosures.

McEnany noted that Yoo had worked on the Whitewater investigation and asked whether such a committee would be similar in function to the congressional panels formed after the January 6 Capitol riots or the historic Watergate hearings.

Yoo responded by saying that a key benefit of such a committee would be the legal power to put witnesses under oath, ensuring truthful and complete testimony. He argued this step would prevent individuals from offering misleading or false information about Biden’s health circumstances or who might have been exercising presidential authority improperly.

Yoo suggests use of prosecutorial tools

He stressed that a congressional committee could also uncover if any officials acted without the President's consent in ways that might violate federal laws. According to Yoo, such unauthorized actions could constitute a misuse of executive power.

In his view, only a formally empowered special counsel could carry out a thorough and credible investigation.

To that end, Yoo mentioned that Robert Hur, who previously served as a special counsel, would be a strong candidate to reprise such a role.

“Let’s have Robert Hur come back and do it right," Yoo said, stressing Hur’s prior experience and emphasizing a need for a prosecutorial style of inquiry.

He believes this approach would bring clarity to whether a cover-up took place surrounding President Biden’s ability to perform his duties.

Committee could compel testimony, enforce subpoenas

Yoo also highlighted the legal reach such an investigation would afford. He said that by employing Department of Justice powers, the committee could issue subpoenas and potentially detain individuals who refuse to comply.

"If those Biden aides, Biden family members refuse to cooperate," Yoo said, "then the Justice Department can go in and force those subpoenas and throw people in jail for refusing to answer Congress’s questions."

The former Justice Department official contended that such pressure could compel reluctant witnesses to divulge sensitive information that otherwise might remain hidden.

He also noted that conducting interviews with individuals like aides and family members could bring significant insights to light.

Comparison to past probes raises stakes

The proposed approach, compared by McEnany to the Watergate and Jan. 6 inquiries, would aim to offer a higher level of legislative scrutiny than standard oversight efforts.

Yoo claimed that regular committee investigations, such as those currently conducted by Rep. James Comer, lack the formal structure and enforcement tools needed to uncover full truths.

According to McEnany, Comer has been using letters and subpoenas via the Oversight Committee, but that method may fall short in gathering fully truthful testimony. In contrast, placing witnesses under oath could significantly raise the stakes for any misleading statements.

Yoo concluded that moving forward with a special congressional committee and an independent counsel would improve transparency and public trust in the government’s handling of presidential health information. He believes such steps are needed to determine if any federal laws have been violated and ensure no undue influence has been exerted behind the scenes.