Sebelius Flustered After Question About One-on-One Obama
Meetings
by Wynton Hall 11 Dec 2013, 10:36
AM PDT
Embattled Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
appeared flustered during Wednesday testimony before the House Energy and
Commerce Committee as she struggled to answer questions about an explosive
Politico Magazine report written by Government Accountability Institute
President and Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer.
The report revealed the White
House calendar records a single one-on-one meeting between her and President
Barack Obama in over three-and-a-half years.
"How many times did you
actually visit with the President since 2009 or 2010 when you came on
board?" asked Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), who is also a medical doctor.
"How many personal visits did you have with him at the White House
regarding the Affordable Care Act?"
"A lot," said Sebelius.
"Can you verify that?"
asked Gingrey.
The chair then said, "The
Gentleman's time has expired."
"I, I...," a flustered
Sebelius said while raising her hands in the air.
The GAI's report and Schweizer's
Politico Magazine op-ed revealed the White House’s official calendar and the
Politico presidential calendar list just a single meeting between Obama and
Sebelius from July 12, 2010 to November 30, 2013. On Friday, HHS spokesperson
Joanne Peters released a statement claiming that Sebelius and Obama held
“countless” one-on-one meetings together and that “dozens” of those private
meetings were held in the last year alone.
Similarly, when asked by NBC News
reporter Peter Alexander and ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl about the GAI’s
explosive report, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney claimed Sebelius has
one-on-one meetings with Obama “frequently” and that “it’s safe to say that
Kathleen Sebelius has been one of the more frequent visitors to and attendants
to meetings with the president.
However, Carney admitted to
Jonathan Karl that he had no numbers, figures, or dates of meetings but said,
“I think on this case, they’ll [HHS] have information for you." But today
during her testimony, Sebelius could only answer, "A lot," when
questioned how many times she had met with the president. And HHS spokesperson
Joanne Peters has yet to release the "countless" and
"dozens" of dates she claims Obama and Sebelius met one-on-one over
the last three-and-a-half years leading up to the Obamacare rollout.
Analysts say the GAI report hits
at the core question of presidential leadership and executive management,
traits that when damaged can do significant damage to a president's popularity,
especially among Independent voters. Former White House adviser to four
presidents of both parties, David Gergen, said on CNN that the GAI’s report
demonstrated “malfeasance” by the Obama White House. “The fact that he was not
meeting with her one-on-one, I think, frankly, is not so much an indictment of
her but of the White House operation,” said Gergen. “At the same time three
years pass with no one-on-one meetings according to this Politico article. The
president had 277 one-on-one meetings with other members of his cabinet.”
Other GOP committee members
expressed frustration with Sebelius for what they considered evasive and
misleading answers.
“We just don’t get the truth out
of you!” Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) said to Sebelius. “It’s like talking to the Republic of Korea.”
Democrats on the committee like
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) laughed off Republican criticisms of Obamacare and
said GOP concerns over millions of American families receiving insurance
cancellations proves Republicans are “living on Mars.” Pallone added: “The
reality is the Affordable Care Act is working…I’m proud of this law.”
“Republicans are afraid this law
is going to be popular,” said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA).
Obama claims he was never notified
of problems with healthcare.gov prior to the website's disastrous October 1
launch.
The White House and HHS have yet
to release the dated list of one-on-one meetings each claims occurred between
Obama and Sebelius.
Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius
is the secretary at the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS)
for the Barack Obama administration,
and Dora Hughes was her counselor at
HHS.
Note: Dora Hughes was Kathleen Sebelius’s counselor at HHS, and is a senior policy adviser for
Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Newton
N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory
Please note: This link for the
members of the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.
R.
Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Mark
A. Angelson was a partner at Sidley
Austin LLP, and is a director at Human
Rights First.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for Human Rights First, and the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
George
Soros is the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Harold
H. Koh was a director at Human
Rights First, a trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), the State
Department legal adviser for the Barack
Obama administration, and is Howard
K. Koh’s brother.
Howard
K. Koh is Harold H. Koh’s brother,
and the assistant secretary at the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) for the Barack Obama administration.
Kathleen Sebelius
is the secretary at the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS)
for the Barack Obama administration,
and Dora Hughes was her counselor at
HHS.
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