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00:00You've said that President Trump asked you to, quote,
00:03clean up corruption and conflicts.
00:06Sounds great.
00:07You've said that you will, quote,
00:09slam shut the revolving door between government agencies
00:14and the companies they regulate.
00:16That also sounds great.
00:18So here's an easy question.
00:20Will you commit that when you leave this job,
00:22you will not accept compensation from a drug company,
00:25a medical device company, a hospital system,
00:29or a health insurer for at least four years,
00:32including as a lobbyist or a board member?
00:35Can you just repeat the last part of the question?
00:38Can I commit to that?
00:38You're not gonna take money from drug companies
00:40in any way, shape, or form.
00:41Who, me?
00:43Yes, you.
00:44Oh, I'm happy to commit to that.
00:48That's what I figured.
00:49I said it's an easy question to start with.
00:52And I think you're right on this question.
00:54I don't think any of them wanna give me money, by the way.
00:57Let's keep going.
00:59You're right because, to say yes,
01:02because every American has the right to know
01:04that every decision you make
01:06as our number one health officer is to help them
01:10and not to make money for yourself in the future.
01:14So I wanna talk more about money.
01:16I'm looking at your paperwork right now.
01:19In the past two years,
01:20you've raked in two and a half million dollars
01:23from a law firm called Wisner Baum.
01:26You go online, you do commercials to encourage people
01:29to sign up with Wisner Baum
01:32to join lawsuits against vaccine makers.
01:35And for everyone who signs up, you personally get paid.
01:39And if they win their case, you get 10% of what they win.
01:44So if you bring in somebody who gets $10 million,
01:48you walk away with a million dollars.
01:51Now, you just said that you want the American people
01:53to know you can't be bought,
01:55your decisions won't depend on how much money
01:58you could make in the future,
01:59you won't go to work for a drug company
02:01after you leave HHS,
02:04but you and I both know there's another way to make money.
02:07So, Mr. Kennedy, will you also agree
02:11that you won't take any compensation
02:13from any lawsuits against drug companies
02:17while you are secretary and for four years afterwards?
02:23Well, I'll certainly commit to that while I'm secretary,
02:28but I do want to clarify something
02:30because you're making me sound like a shill.
02:34I put together that case.
02:37I did the Science Day presentation
02:40to the judge on that case to get it into court.
02:43Mr. Kennedy, it's just a really simple question.
02:47You've taken in two and a half million dollars.
02:50I want to know if you will commit right now
02:52that not only will you not go to work for drug companies,
02:55you won't go to work suing the drug companies
02:58and taking your rake out of that
03:01while you're a secretary and for four years after.
03:04It's just-
03:05I'll commit to not taking any fees from drug companies
03:08while I'm secretary.
03:11I'm asking about fees from suing drug companies.
03:15Will you agree not to do that?
03:17You're asking me to not sue drug companies
03:20and I'm not going to agree to that.
03:21No, you can sue drug companies as much as you want.
03:25I'm not going to agree to not sue drug companies or anybody.
03:29So let's do a quick count here
03:32of how as secretary of HHS, if you get confirmed,
03:36you could influence every one of those lawsuits.
03:40Well, let me start the list.
03:42You can publish your anti-vaccine conspiracies,
03:45but this time on US government letterheads,
03:48something a jury might be impressed by.
03:51You could appoint people to the CDC vaccine panel
03:54who share your anti-vax views
03:56and let them do your dirty work.
03:58You could tell the CDC vaccine panel
04:01to remove a particular vaccine from the vaccine schedule.
04:05You could remove vaccines
04:06from special compensation programs,
04:09which would open up manufacturers to mass torts.
04:12You could make more injuries eligible for compensation,
04:15even if there is no causal evidence.
04:18You could change vaccine court processes
04:20to make it easier to bring junk lawsuits.
04:23You could turn over FDA data
04:25to your friends at the law firm
04:27and they could use it however it benefited them.
04:29You could change vaccine labeling.
04:31You could change vaccine information rules.
04:34You can change which claims are compensated
04:37in the vaccine injury compensation program.
04:41There's a lot of ways that you can influence
04:44those future lawsuits and pending lawsuits
04:48while you are secretary of HHS.
04:50And I'm asking you to commit right now
04:53that you will not take a financial stake
04:57in every one of those lawsuits
04:59so that what you do as secretary
05:01will also benefit you financially down the line.
05:05I'll comply with all the ethical guidelines.
05:08That's not the question.
05:09You and I, you have said repeatedly.
05:12Senator, you're asking me not to sue vaccine companies.
05:15No, I am not.
05:17My country is stuck in war.
05:19That's exactly what you're doing.
05:21Look, no one should be fooled here.
05:24As secretary of HHS, Robert Kennedy will have the power
05:29to undercut vaccines and vaccine manufacturing
05:33across our country.
05:34And for all of his talk about follow the science
05:38and his promise that he won't interfere
05:40with those of us who want to vaccinate his kids,
05:43the bottom line is the same.
05:46Kennedy can kill off access to vaccines
05:49and make millions of dollars while he does it.
05:52Kids might die, but Robert Kennedy can keep cashing in.
05:57Senator, I support vaccines.
06:01I support the childhood schedule.
06:04I will do that.
06:06The only thing I want is good science, and that's it.
06:09How about then say you won't make money
06:11off what you do as secretary of HHS?
06:14Before we go to Senator Tillis,
06:17I think it would be important for me to make it very clear
06:20that Mr. Kennedy has gone through the same
06:22Office of Government Ethics process
06:25as every single other nominee in the Finance Committee
06:29this year and in previous administrations.
06:32In addition to listing his assets,
06:34including items that you've identified,
06:37he has signed an ethics letter that has been reviewed
06:39by the Office of Government Ethics
06:41concerning any possible conflict
06:44in light of its functions and the nominee's proposed duties,
06:48and we have a letter from the Office of Government Ethics
06:51that he hasn't complied completely
06:53with all applicable laws and regulations
06:57governing conflicts of interest.
06:59Mr. Chairman, point of information here.
07:03Have we had a single nominee come through
07:07who's made two and a half million dollars
07:09off suing one of the entities that it would be regulating
07:13and plans to keep getting a take
07:17of every lawsuit in the future?
07:18Have we had that before?
07:20I haven't reviewed the past documentation
07:22of every other nominee's financial interests, and so no.
07:26But I know that every single time we get a nominee,
07:28their financial interests are attacked.
07:31That's why we have the Office of Government Ethics.
07:34That's why they've reviewed everything
07:35that's in his record, and that's why he has even,
07:40I think, and I don't know that I wanna ask him
07:42to get into it, but he has listed his assets
07:45and has gone through a discussion of the responsibilities
07:49under our ethics laws and has complied
07:53with all of those requirements.
07:56Senator Tillis.