Tim Burchett Grills Biden Official On Staff Oversight: ‘Why Did You Rehire Her?’

3 months ago

On Wednesday, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) questioned U.S. Agency on Global Media CEO Amanda Bennett on staff oversight during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Thank You Chairman Issa, Ranking Member. Ms. Bennett, Satara Siege was fired for

00:07lying on a resume for mishandling taxpayer dollars and harassing staff at

00:12the United States Agency for Global Media. Why was she rehired?

00:19Sir, that whole issue has been thoroughly overseen. I have great respect for the

00:28oversight capabilities and responsibilities of this organization,

00:31been thoroughly overseen over a period of three and a half years, including all

00:35the issues you mentioned there. I hope that we are able to, as a conclusion was

00:41drawn, a report was issued, I'm hoping that we'll be able to work in

00:44partnership with your committee in oversight of the important things

00:51that are now facing us. Well ma'am, do you have any comment on that? I mean, I

00:56know there's a public statement that was issued following the Foreign Affairs

01:02Committee report. I mean, so you clearly have no problem with commenting on the

01:06matter. I'm just wondering why was she rehired? Sir, it's really, as you know,

01:12inappropriate to talk about personnel issues in an open forum like this,

01:16although this whole entire issue has been very thoroughly... Well, ma'am, it's

01:21taxpayer money. I think it's very appropriate for us to talk about it, and

01:26I would ask you, I would issue some caution there. You know, the Privacy Act

01:33doesn't apply to Congress, and these are taxpayer monies, and these people,

01:39ma'am, you know, we had whistleblowers tell us that this lady was

01:45harassing staff. I mean, is that what's acceptable? Sir, you're right. We have

01:51spent three and a half years being exceptionally cooperative, really trying

01:55to answer every question. You answered every question, but you rehired her. Sir, we

02:01dealt with that issue. We talked about it. It's in the report. I appreciate

02:06the talk, ma'am, but rehiring her, to me, really defeats a lot of the purpose

02:12of why we're here. I think it was pretty much proven that in the committee

02:20report, it was unequivocal, and has even proven by a third-party credentialing

02:24service what went down on that deal, so that's very disappointing. You know, y'all

02:30released a report detailing Ms. Siege's offenses for which she was fired. Do you

02:34agree the committee's findings are accurate? Sir, we don't always agree on

02:39everything the committee finds, but we nonetheless have great respect for the

02:41committee and its oversight responsibility. And I can appreciate the

02:45lawyers giving you that answer, ma'am, but the evidence in the report that relates

02:48to her lying on a resume was verified by a third-party credentialing service.

02:52I mean, how do we go out here and tell people that we're hiring, and some

02:56people that we're letting go, that, well, we'll make exceptions for certain people

03:00because of whatever reason, and when they lie, or they harass

03:04employees, or other things, or there may be some financial dealings that we're

03:09not clear of, sure of, that we keep these people on. And, sir, as I say, we were

03:16extremely cooperative in talking to you about every single thing that we've been

03:20asked to talk about, and the report reflects the committee's view of it.

03:24Ma'am, let me ask you this. Do you believe the whistleblowers who have spoken, who

03:28spoke about Ms. Siege, do you think they told the truth, or do you think they lied?

03:31Just tell me, what do you think? Sir, that's not for me to talk about

03:35whether a person lies or tells the truth, sir, but I would like to say that we

03:38don't agree with everything that the report says. Nonetheless, we respect the oversight capability.

03:42Well, ma'am, she mishandled over $1 million in taxpayer money. Is that alone not a

03:48fireable offense? Sir, those, those allegations, long before I came back to

03:55the agency, were, I think, deeply investigated and found to be without

03:59merit, which is why I believe that the investigation focused in on the

04:03educational credentials and not on these other allegations, because they were

04:07disproved very early on, long before I came here. Well, a third party, I believe,

04:13begs to differ on some of those issues. Who else receives this level of special

04:17treatment at USAGM? Is there other people that have followed along the same

04:22path that you know of? I'm not sure what level of special treatment they're

04:26asking about. Well, ma'am, if you, if there's a misappropriation or mishandled

04:30a million dollars in taxpayer money, that's, that seems to be something I

04:34would think we'd be concerned about, and it's, it's very concerning to me when I

04:40talk to people about the level of trust in government and their lack of trust

04:44when things like this occur. I think it's pretty evident why they do not trust in

04:49government, because we're not managing our money and we're throwing it around,

04:52and this needs to change, and I believe it will be changing very soon. Thank you,

04:57Mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank you. The gentleman did seem to want to know if

05:02there was merit to her false allegation that she had a PhD from a French

05:07University. Can you answer that on the record, please?

Tim Burchett Grills Biden Official On Staff Oversight: ‘Why Did You Rehire Her?’

Category

Transcript

Recommended