Senator Bill Cassidy / Committee Chair voice (likely Bill Cassidy)

I'll also note

that if he has it i'm also curious why only one senator was given this and why we're just hearing about it now and why didn't the secretary share it at the senate finance committee but those are questions that can be answered later with that senator sanders that's exactly the point that i want to make how does that happen if it is true that one senator has access to an alleged tape recording of a meeting nobody else has it including the chairman

This is what we're dealing with right now.

And this is what I think, well, Dr. Moner is, this is a very politicized situation.

For the record.

It's just been reported that Senator Mullen told reporters that he was mistaken in saying that the RFK Menores meeting was recorded.

But in case he's mistaken that he was mistaken, if there is a recording, it should be released.

And it would beg the question of what other conversations were recorded.

And I'll repeat what I said earlier.

We have sent a request to HHS for records related to these incidences.

We've yet to receive those.

But, of course, it would help the committee, which on both sides has found itself scratching its head, to help us kind of discern what the truth is.

I just want to make a brief comment as my name was invoked.

As a chairman of the committee with jurisdiction over the CDC that favorably reported Dr. Menard as a CDC director, it is entirely appropriate for someone with oversight concerns to contact my office or me or frankly any of us.

Upon receiving outreach from Dr. Menares, I contacted both the Secretary and the White House to inquire what was happening and to express concerns about what was 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.