By Nicole Lafond

Copyright talkingpointsmemo

Fired Centers for Disease Control Director Susan Monarez endured a lot of weird questioning from Republicans during a hearing before the Senate Heath, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Wednesday. But none were as bizarre as the line of questioning Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) tossed her way, accusing the former official of lying about her final conversations with Health and Human Service Secretary RFK Jr. before the White House fired her.

Monarez was fired in August, just one month after she was confirmed to lead the CDC by the Senate. She was the first CDC director to be confirmed by the Senate, in fact, thanks to a new requirement enacted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. She has said publicly that she was fired after RFK Jr. pressured her to rubber stamp any vaccine recommendations that are set to be put out by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is scheduled to meet for the first time tomorrow.

This was a problem for Monarez — and other people who believe in science — because this summer RFK Jr. fired all 17 members of the advisory panel that puts out recommendations on vaccine schedules and replaced them with his own appointees. This raised alarms at the time because RFK Jr. is a notorious anti-vaxxer and is committed to convincing the public of his longtime, baseless and debunked belief that there’s some sort of link between vaccines and autism.

He also promised Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) that he would not do exactly what he did do, in order to secure Cassidy’s confirmation vote.

“He just wanted blanket approval,” Monarez testified on Wednesday, speaking about her Aug. 25 meeting with RFK Jr. during which she says he asked her to green light all of the panel’s recommendations, no matter what they were. “If I could not commit to blanket approval to each of the recommendations I would need to resign.”

She said that RFK Jr. spoke to the White House about replacing her if she did not agree to his terms. The White House fired her a few days later. During his hearing before the same committee earlier this month, RFK Jr. claimed that he only asked her to keep an open mind about ACIP’s recommendations.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Mullin wasn’t buying Monarez’s explanation of events. He accused the ousted official of lying about her conversations with RFK Jr. and even suggested during his questioning time that there was some sort of recording of the conversation that would prove she was misleading congress.

“It was a recorded meeting, so you can testify one way or you can prove that you’re lying or be honest with this committee,” Mullin told Monarez Wednesday. “And I’m giving you the opportunity to be honest here, because you’ve been really walking around the edges and not being truthful.”

Monarez countered Mullin, saying that RFK Jr. told her that he couldn’t trust her and she suggested that he should fire her if that’s the case.

Mullin persisted. “I tell my kids all the time, ‘You know, one thing I want from you, I can deal with any situation we walk into as long as I know you’re being 100% honest with me. The minute I can’t tell you’re being honest with me, I can’t trust you. From then on, everything you say is questioned,’” Mullin said, “because your personality and your answers aren’t correct.”

It is entirely unclear, however, what Mullin was talking about as he attempted to strong arm the ousted official. A bit later in the day, Mullin told reporters on Capitol Hill that he was actually mistaken and there was no recording of the meeting.

Cassidy laid into his fellow Republican colleague and said he should retract his line of questioning if there was, in fact, no recording.

Patel Doesn’t Know Who Dylann Roof Is

During his second round of congressional hearings this week, this time before the House Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Kash Patel faced questions about a number of topics, including his bureau’s investigation of the Charlie Kirk assassination and the DOJ’s handling of its review of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

But when asked about the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church mass shooting in Charlestown, South Carolina in 2015 when nine Black parishioners were killed, Patel did not recall the event.

The exchange speaks for itself.

In case Patel needs a refresher, here’s an in-depth piece that my colleague Hunter Walker published earlier this year about the mass shooting. It, of course, had a deep impact on the parishioners and the family of the victims; four men in that orbit went on to launch political careers in the wake of the white supremacist’s attack. Our story focused on how, through public service, they are grappling with what happened that day.

GOP Helps Trump Continue Senseless National Guard Deployments

After the Trump administration seemingly backed off its threats to send National Guard troops into Chicago as another escalation of Trump’s ongoing war with blue cities — all under the guise of his claim that he needs to crack down on crime in areas run by elected Democrats — Republicans have been offering Trump opportunities to flex power in red states so he can keep the charade going.

Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) earlier this week asked Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to consider sending troops from the state’s National Guard to the city of Cleveland, supposedly to help crack down on crime there. This comes after DeWine announced last week that some of the Ohio National Guard troops that he sent to Washington, D.C. as part of Trump’s performative power flex there would remain through November.

“Some will argue that bringing in the National Guard is an extreme measure. I would argue that allowing lawlessness to continue unchecked is far more extreme. The safety of our citizens is not negotiable,” Miller said in a Washington Times op-ed.

This all comes after Trump has vowed to send National Guard troops to other red areas of the country, like Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana, after seemingly standing down from his Chicago menacing as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker vowed to challenge any National Guard deployment there in court.

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