Ousted CDC Director Susan Monarez testifies on RFK Jr., predicts U.S. will not be prepared for subsequent pandemic | USAEMALL.com

Republican Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida repeatedly pressed Monarez to introduce the lawyers who accompanied her to the hearing and demanded she produce their names for the record.

The Florida senator claimed the attorneys are “anti-Trump” and suggested without evidence that Monarez has a “whole network of people who are trying to embarass the president or go after the president.”

“My attorneys have been publicly associated with me,” the former CDC official said, adding that she sought their counsel either on the day or shortly after she was fired.

Moody asked Monarez whether she coordinated a “public spectacle” surrounding her firing.

“I was terminated abruptly,” Monarez said.

Houry said the lawyers are Abbe Lowell and Mark Zaid, who are representing numerous former officials suing the Trump administration over their firings. Zaid has a long history of representing whistleblowers, while Lowell’s former clients include Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, the president’s son-in-law and daughter, as well as Hunter Biden, former President Joe Biden’s son.

Moody also went after Monarez for calling Cassidy about her concerns regarding Kennedy’s demands of her and questioned whether she had an “advance plan” to spur a public hearing.

Monarez said she had made commitments to senators during her confirmation hearing to work with Congress, which prompted her outreach to the committee.

Cassidy, the chairman, said that Monarez’s decision to contact him or any other committee member was “entirely appropriate” given that the Senate HELP Committee conducts oversight of the CDC and approved her nomination to lead the agency.

Cassidy said he reached out to Kennedy and the White House to express concerns about what Monarez alleged.

“As soon as the director was fired, the HELP Committee began reviewing the situation, as it is our responsibility, and any and all communications with the witnesses was conducted by HELP staff in coordination with attorneys,” he said.

Sanders said it is “rather astounding that anyone is concerned that government heads of agencies talk to the elected officials of the United States of America. That is what they are supposed to do.”