Editor From The Federalist: As Ebola Outbreak Surges On, Where Is The Secretary For Preparedness And Response?
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall talked with Mollie Hemingway from The Federalist on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about her article on Dr. Nicole Lurie, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Hemingway insists Lurie should be out in front of the fight against Ebola, but instead, she is invisible. She also said Lurie's record was suspect long before the Ebola outbreak.
"She's been around for five years, and she's been completely M.I.A in the last month. You can barely find any mention of her in the news, which was really weird.
But also, what was interesting about her and her position is that she was embroiled in a huge scandal like three years ago, and I don't know how she kept her job after this because she was shown to have had a role in the funneling of a major, like, $433 million grant to a big Obama donor."
She contends Lurie and the entire department of Health and Human Services have failed to deliver on their mandate.
"It depends on what you think the job of HHS is. It's interesting, if you think it's about rewarding friends and growing the administrative state, they're actually pretty good at what they do. If you were so naïve to think that it was about health or something, yes, they're very bad."
Hemingway believes Lurie should be more accountable in the fight against Ebola and in how she operates within the department.
"Our Ebola czar is one of only eight assistant secretaries at HHS. She's a very high ranking person who you've never heard of and has access to a ton of money and has managed that money very poorly, I would say."
