[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                       HEARING ON COMPLIANCE WITH
                          COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                 SUBCOMMITTEE ON RESPONSIVENESS AND 
                          ACCOUNTABILITY TO OVERSIGHT

                                 OF THE

                       COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                         TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2023

                               __________

                           Serial No. 118-36

                               __________

         Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
         
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]         


               Available via: http://judiciary.house.gov
               
                               __________

                                
                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
53-106                      WASHINGTON : 2023                    
          
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                       COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                        JIM JORDAN, Ohio, Chair

DARRELL ISSA, California             JERROLD NADLER, New York, Ranking 
KEN BUCK, Colorado                       Member
MATT GAETZ, Florida                  ZOE LOFGREN, California
MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana              SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas
ANDY BIGGS, Arizona                  STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
TOM McCLINTOCK, California           HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr., 
TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin                   Georgia
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky              ADAM SCHIFF, California
CHIP ROY, Texas                      ERIC SWALWELL, California
DAN BISHOP, North Carolina           TED LIEU, California
VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana             PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington
SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin          J. LUIS CORREA, California
CLIFF BENTZ, Oregon                  MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania
BEN CLINE, Virginia                  JOE NEGUSE, Colorado
LANCE GOODEN, Texas                  LUCY McBATH, Georgia
JEFF VAN DREW, New Jersey            MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania
TROY NEHLS, Texas                    VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
BARRY MOORE, Alabama                 DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina
KEVIN KILEY, California              CORI BUSH, Missouri
HARRIET HAGEMAN, Wyoming             GLENN IVEY, Maryland
NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas               BECCA BALINT, Vermont
LAUREL LEE, Florida
WESLEY HUNT, Texas
RUSSELL FRY, South Carolina
                                 ------                                

           SUBCOMMITTEE ON RESPONSIVENESS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
                              TO OVERSIGHT

                       BEN CLINE, Virginia, Chair

JEFF VAN DREW, New Jersey            ERIC SWALWELL, California, Ranking 
NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas                   Member
LAUREL LEE, Florida                  GLENN IVEY, Maryland

               CHRISTOPHER HIXON, Majority Staff Director
          AMY RUTKIN, Minority Staff Director & Chief of Staff
                            
                            
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                         Tuesday, July 18, 2023

                                                                   Page

                           OPENING STATEMENTS

The Honorable Ben Cline, Chair of the Subcommittee on 
  Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight from the State 
  of Virginia....................................................     1
The Honorable Eric Swalwell, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee 
  on Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight from the 
  State of California............................................     3

                               WITNESSES

The Hon. Naz Durakoglu, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of 
  Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of State
  Oral Testimony.................................................     4
  Prepared Testimony.............................................     7
The Hon. Melanie Egorin, Assistant Secretary for Legislation, 
  Bureau of Legislative Affairs, Department of Health and Human 
  Services
  Oral Testimony.................................................     9
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    11

          LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC. SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING

All materials submitted for the record by the Subcommittee on 
  Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight are listed below    25

An article entitled, ``Trump's false or misleading claims total 
  30,573 over 4 years,'' Jan. 23, 2021, The Washington Post, 
  submitted by the Honorable Glenn Ivey, a Member of the 
  Subcommittee on Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight 
  from the State of Maryland, for the record
A letter to the Honorable Christopher A. Wray, Jul. 17, 2023, 
  from the Honorable Jim Jordan, Chair of the Committee on the 
  Judiciary from the State of Ohio, submitted by the Honorable 
  Ben Cline, Chair of the Subcommittee on Responsiveness and 
  Accountability to Oversight from the State of Virginia, for the 
  record

 
                       HEARING ON COMPLIANCE WITH
                          COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT

                              ----------                              


                         Tuesday, July 18, 2023

                        House of Representatives

     Subcommittee on Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight

                       Committee on the Judiciary

                             Washington, DC


    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:01 a.m., in 
Room 2237, Rayburn House Office Building, the Hon. Ben Cline 
[Chair of the Subcommittee] presiding.
    Members present: Representatives Cline, Van Drew, Moran, 
Lee, Swalwell, and Ivey.
    Mr. Cline. The Subcommittee will come to order.
    Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a 
recess at any time. If you would all rise so that we can say 
the Pledge of Allegiance.
    All. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States 
of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one 
Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for 
all.
    Mr. Cline. Thank you. All right. Welcome, everyone, to 
today's Hearing on Compliance with Committee Oversight. I will 
now recognize myself for an opening statement.
    This is the fourth hearing of the Subcommittee on 
Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight. Labeling 
Content Dangerous Misinformation, Disinformation, or 
Malinformation has been the government's main method of 
suppressing and silencing the airing of perspectives that are 
in line with the governments.
    The Committee's Select Subcommittee on Weaponization of the 
Federal Government has been working to uncover the full extent 
of collusion with or coercion by the Biden Administration, its 
agencies, and social media companies. As part of this 
investigation the Committee has sent numerous requests to 
agencies and social media companies, reiterated requests 
numerous times culminating in subpoenas, or noncompliant 
agencies and companies including the State Department's Global 
Engagement Center and the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
    Today the Subcommittee seeks to obtain answers directly 
from representatives of the Department of Health and Human 
Services and the Department of State. We look forward to 
engaging with our witnesses today to discuss the productions we 
have received to date and the status of our other outstanding 
requests.
    For example, the CDC was viewed as the lead authority on 
matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic and played a 
significant role in adjudicating the factuality of COVID-19 
claims on social media. As a Federal Court just explained in 
Missouri v. Biden, the quote,

        CDC became the determiner of truth for social media platforms, 
        deciding whether COVID-19 statements made on social media were 
        true or false. And the CDC was aware it had become the 
        determiner of truth for social media platforms. If the CDC said 
        a statement on social media was false, it was suppressed in 
        spite of alternative views.

    Accordingly, it is important that the Committee have the 
opportunity to determine how the CDC and actors with which the 
agency was communicated labeled speech MDM, or malinformation, 
to effectuate its takedown from platforms and the nature of the 
relationship between CDC and social media companies.
    On March 22, 2023, the Committee wrote to Secretary 
Becerra, Surgeon General Murthy, the National Institutes of 
Health, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious 
Diseases, and the Food and Drug Administration requesting 
documents and information relating to how and to what extent 
the HHS and is components coerced and colluded with companies 
and other intermediaries to censor speech. These requests have 
largely gone unanswered.
    On April 28, 2023, Chair Jordan issued subpoenas to CDC 
Director Walensky and GEC Special Envoy Rubin regarding 
coercion by the Federal Government to have companies and groups 
engage in content moderation. To date the responses to these 
subpoenas have been deficient and overdue. While the CDC has 
produced some documents to the Committee and made other 
documents available for review, questions remain. For example, 
the CDC still needs to produce certain documents to the 
Committee pursuant to that subpoena such as internal 
communications on the matter.
    On April 18, 2023, the Committee wrote to Secretary Blinken 
requesting documents and information relating to how and to 
what extent the State Department and its components coerced and 
colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor 
speech.
    On April 28, 2023, Chair Jordan issued a subpoena to GEC 
Special Envoy Rubin to investigate the nature and extent of the 
GEC's interactions with companies and groups over content 
moderation. GEC's response to date, a mere 1,195 pages that is 
extremely limited in scope, has been wholly incomplete and 
inadequate. This is despite State Department's representatives 
proffering that production would be in the tens of thousands of 
pages at least as virtually everything GEC does is related to 
content moderation on social media.
    These hearings play a critical role in assisting the 
Judiciary Committee in its oversight obligations which in turn 
allows the Committee to examine potential legislative changes 
within our jurisdiction. The courts have recognized that 
Congress' power to conduct oversight is an indispensable 
component of our authority to legislate. Without the 
information that the Committee needs from the Administration we 
cannot do our jobs.
    We look forward today to engaging with the witnesses that 
have appeared to discuss the productions we have received to 
date and to discuss the status of our other outstanding 
requests. Thank you.
    I now recognize the Ranking Member Mr. Swalwell for his 
opening statement.
    Mr. Swalwell. It never gets old that Chair Jordan is 
complaining about subpoena compliance. We are approaching 500 
days since Chair Jordan has failed to comply with a lawfully 
issued subpoena for the greatest crime ever committed in 
America, a crime where more people have been arrested, more 
people have been prosecuted. His country has asked him to 
assist in the investigation and he has refused to comply, yet 
he is all too eager to bring to this Committee people who are 
working hard for the government, working hard for taxpayers, to 
carry out the mission of Health and Human Services, to carry 
out the mission of the State Department.
    He is too good to honor a subpoena, but he has complaints, 
real complaints about what these hardworking government 
officials are doing. Again, it is never going to get old. It is 
never going to be taken seriously. Thankfully these witnesses 
are willing to do something that Chair Jordan is not willing to 
do, which is actually shows and answer questions.
    As we waste the time of the State Department we have 
scrambled fighter jets to address threats from Iran in the 
Gulf. We are protecting and defending Taiwan against a 
potential showdown with China. We are helping Ukraine and 
leading the way on the front on the Western side as Russia 
invades their country. There is a lot going on in the world, 
but it seems that Jim Jordan thinks the most important thing we 
can do is to stop the State Department from fighting 
disinformation.
    By the way, tomorrow the President of Israel will come and 
speak to Congress and I promise you he will probably mention 
the rise of anti-Semitism across the globe; and of course we 
know all too well here in America, but he won't have to look 
very far because Chair Jordan the very next day is using his 
power as Chair to bring one of the most anti-Semitic witnesses 
you could possibly bring into Congress to testify before Chair 
Jordan's Weaponization Committee.
    So, that is the priorities of Chair Jordan these days.
    It was made all too clear last when we had FBI Director 
Chris Wray testify to Congress just what this is all about. 
Chair Jordan complained that in the 2020 election he believed 
that the FBI prevented the public from seeing more of Hunter 
Biden's laptop, if you can believe that, the Republicans would 
have won the 2020 election if more Americans could have seen a 
private citizen's nonconsensual nudes. That was Chair Jordan's 
complaint.
    So, we now see that the MAGA party is not a party of ideas. 
It is not a party of principles. It is a party of violating an 
individual's privacy to own the libs and try and win an 
election. Today we are going to learn that not only are they a 
party of nonconsensual nudes; they want to be a party of 
disinformation and they want to stop the State Department from 
attacking foreign disinformation that could affect global 
stability and of course how Americans view their information as 
they make decisions on elections.
    We have some slides I would like to show, because this is 
what Chair Jordan and MAGA Republicans would like to stay in 
the ether in the universe. This has been identified as clear 
disin-
formation attacking Speaker Pelosi. Again the Tennessee GOP, 
which we know is a Russian site, a piece of social media 
posting propping up Donald Trump. So, this is what they would 
prefer. They would prefer an election that was decided because 
of disinformation.
    This would be like the 2022 Cincinnati Reds who lost 100 
games last season--Cincinnati Reds lost 100 games. So, it would 
be like if the Cincinnati Reds went to Major League Baseball 
and said, commissioner, in the upcoming season we would like 
corked bats, pine tar for the pitchers, and steroids to be 
allowed for our clean-up hitters. We can't win with ideas, so 
we need to cheat. That is what this hearing is about, is that 
MAGA Republicans cannot win with ideas and so they want to 
flood the zone this upcoming election with disinformation and a 
private citizen's nonconsensual nudes.
    That is just weird. I think it is also wrong. We are not 
going to be silent about it and we are always going to remind 
the public that this Committee has no credibility because its 
Chair himself refuses to follow a lawful subpoena. I yield 
back.
    Mr. Cline. I am not going to take time to respond to that. 
I have already given my opening remarks, but I will display the 
Chair's response to the subpoena for those interested.
    We will now introduce today's witnesses. The Honorable Naz 
Durakoglu is the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of 
Legislative Affairs. She was confirmed by the Senate on June 
16, 2002.
    The Honorable Melanie Egorin is the Assistant Secretary for 
Legislation at the Department of Health and Human Services. She 
was confirmed by the Senate on September 30, 2021.
    We welcome our witnesses and thank them for appearing 
today. We will begin by swearing you in. Would you please rise 
and raise your right hand?
    Do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the 
testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best 
of your knowledge, information, and belief, so help you God?
    Let the record reflect that the witnesses have answered in 
the affirmative.
    Thank you. Please be seated.
    Please know that your written testimony will be entered 
into the record in its entirety. Accordingly we ask that you 
summarize your testimony in five minutes.
    Ms. Durakoglu--did I get that right--you may begin.

                   STATEMENT OF NAZ DURAKOGLU

    Ms. Durakoglu. Thank you. Good morning. Chair Cline, 
Ranking Member Swalwell, distinguished Members of the 
Subcommittee, it is a pleasure to be here today to discuss the 
Department of State's commitment to being responsive to 
Congressional Oversight. I also want to take a moment to 
welcome our interns in the Legislative Affairs Bureau who are 
here today.
    With more than a decade of experience as a staffer in both 
the House and the Senate I have deep appreciation for Congress' 
role in conducting oversight of Federal agencies. My bureau, 
the State Department's Bureau of Legislative Affairs, also 
known as H, is the Department's conduit to Capitol Hill and 
leads on all Congressional engagement.
    The H is your primary resource for your State Department 
questions including constituent passport, visa, and overseas 
emergency inquiries, Congressional delegation travel, and 
technical assistance on foreign affairs legislation.
    In 2022, the Department conducted a record-breaking 3,431 
Congressional engagements. In 2021 and 2022 the H facilitated 
2,710 responses to Congressional letters, transmitted 982 
Congressionally mandated reports, supported 475 CODELs and 
STAFFDELs, and provided technical assistance on more than 1,000 
pieces of legislation. So far in the 118th Congress, we are set 
to beat this record. The H has supported 57 hearings, 1,611 
briefings and meetings, responded to 645 letters from Members 
of Congress, produced 325 reports to Congress, and facilitated 
403 CODELs and STAFFDELs.
    We're here to ensure you and your staffs have the 
information you need to serve your constituents and we pride 
ourselves on being open and accessible to our colleagues on the 
Hill.
    This approach extends to Congressional oversight. We are 
just over halfway through 2023 and the Department has 28 open 
and wide-ranging investigations from six separate House 
Committees. Across all House inquiries the Department has 
provided more than 16,000 pages in documents and regularly 
conducts meetings and briefings to help facilitate 
Congressional oversight. As Secretary Blinken said during his 
confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee, no foreign policy can be sustained without the 
informed consent of the American people. For this reason the 
secretary and the Department's leadership view Congress as a 
true partner and we are committed to working with you in good 
faith on your oversight priorities.
    In response to this Committee's inquiry into the 
Department's Global Engagement Center, or GEC, we produced 
nearly 1,200 pages in documents and offered to brief Committee 
staff on the GEC's work. We in fact welcome the opportunity to 
brief all Members on the GEC's important work to identify and 
expose foreign information manipulation operations and 
strategies overseas. The Department remains committed to 
engaging in the constitutionally mandated accommodations 
process with this Committee and we will continue to review and 
produce additional responsive material on a rolling basis.
    As we respond to Congressional oversight requests the H and 
the dedicated public servants throughout the State Department 
must also continue daily work to address complex diplomatic and 
national security priorities including Russia's war of 
aggression Ukraine, global competition with the People's 
Republic of China, a growing international food security 
crisis, and root causes of migration in the Western Hemisphere. 
Recognizing the balance the Department must strike in managing 
these challenging issues while responding to Congressional 
oversight requests we work to maintain productive relationships 
across parties, Committees, and both Chambers of Congress. As 
such, in addition to producing records responsive to your 
request we are in regular communication with your staff on 
these and other matters.
    Once again, I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to 
appear before you today and I look forward to answering your 
questions. Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of the Hon. Durakoglu follows:]
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Mr. Cline. Thank you, Ms. Durakoglu.
    Ms. Egorin, you may begin.

              STATEMENT OF THE HON. MELANIE EGORIN

    Ms. Egorin. Good morning, Chair Cline, Ranking Member 
Swalwell, Members of the Committee. I appreciate the 
opportunity to testify on behalf of the Department of Health 
and Human Services.
    I am Melanie Anne Egorin, the Assistant Secretary for 
Legislation at the Department of Health and Human Services. 
Prior to coming to the HHS, I spent more than 15 years working 
in Congress and at the Government Accountability Office, 
including as serving on the professional staff of the House 
Committee on Ways and Means for almost a decade. I have a deep 
appreciation for the important work of Congress and the 
critical role that oversight plays in the effective functioning 
of our government. I believe it is vital that Congress ask 
questions about current policies and programs to improve their 
integrity, our healthcare system, and the overall health of the 
Nation.
    The HHS' mission is to enhance the health and well-being of 
all Americans. We accomplish this mission every day by 
providing for effective health and human services, by fostering 
sound and sustained advances in the sciences underlying 
medicine, public health, and social services.
    Our 12 operating divisions administer a wide variety of 
health and human services on behalf of the American people and 
the world. The HHS provides access to coverage for more than 
100 million people through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's 
Health Insurance Program, and the Health Insurance Marketplace. 
We also provide vital services through Indian Health Service, 
Community Health Centers, and the U.S. Public Health Service. 
We protect Americans from health safety and threats, both 
foreign and domestic, and we oversee the safety, effectiveness 
and quality of foods, drugs, vaccines and medical devices. As 
you can see the HHS programs touch the lives of all Americans.
    As part of this critical mission the HHS regularly 
interacts with Congress and responds to Congressional oversight 
requests. The HHS recognizes and appreciates the importance of 
Congressional oversight and we are committed to continuing to 
work with Congress in good faith. To that end my office serves 
as the primary link between the Department and Congress, which 
includes facilitating responses to Congressional oversight. 
Given the breadth of the programs we administer the HHS 
receives inquiries from virtually every Member of Congress and 
regularly receives a variety of oversight requests from 
multiple Committees in both the House and Senate.
    Since the 118th Congress began, the Department has sent 
nearly 100 letters responding specifically to oversight 
inquiries, produced more than 11,000 pages of documents in 
response to oversight requests, and responded to numerous other 
Congressional requests for information. Department officials 
have testified at a multitude of oversight hearings, provided 
briefings in connection with a wide range of oversight 
inquiries. We are also actively responding to 180 ongoing 
engagements by GAO, 63 of which were initiated just this year.
    In responding to the substantial volume of Congressional 
oversight requests this Congress, we engage in an 
accommodations process seeking to balance Congress' interests 
consistent with Executive Branch interest while working within 
and being mindful of our resource constraints. We often receive 
broad and complex requests that require appropriate time and 
attention to ensure that we are providing accurate information 
and which may involve many components of the Department. In all 
cases we are working hard to respond to Congress' oversight 
requests.
    As you know, we have been actively engaging with the 
Judiciary Committee regarding its multiple oversight requests 
and to date have provided more than 2,000 pages of documents 
including a production just last week. We have also arranged to 
have an additional 1,200 pages of sensitive records be reviewed 
in camera, sent multiple letters and responses to the 
Committee's inquiries, and participated in a transcribed 
interview.
    As I believe my testimony today reflects, the HHS has 
demonstrated a record of working diligently to address the 
broad range of oversight requests from Congress including this 
committee. The HHS is committed to continuing to engage with 
the Committee in good faith and I look forward to answering 
your questions.
    [The prepared statement of the Hon. Egorin follows:]
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Mr. Cline. Thank you very much.
    We will now proceed with questions under the five-minute 
rule. I want to begin with the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Moran.
    Mr. Moran. Assistant Secretary Durakoglu, I would like to 
direct my questions to you, if I could. I want to talk to you 
specifically about the March 22, 2023, request and subsequent 
April 28, 2023, subpoena which was sent to the State Department 
and ask you some questions about that in particular.
    What was your role in gathering the responsive documents 
that we are here to talk about here today?
    Ms. Durakoglu. So I'm part of a team across the State 
Department. We have 15 full-time employees devoted to 
oversight. The Legislative Affairs Bureau has a role in that, 
so I can tell you that I actually did personally look through 
the four productions we gave you guys on this Committee.
    Mr. Moran. Great. Did you also look behind the redactions 
to the information that had been redacted?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Moran. All right. So you are familiar with all the 
documents and the redaction and the substance behind the 
redactions?
    Ms. Durakoglu. For the most part, yes.
    Mr. Moran. Are you aware that the deadline for responding 
to that April 28 subpoena was May 22, 2023?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Yes, that was in the letter.
    Mr. Moran. Is there a reason why the State Department did 
not make its first production until June 23rd?
    Ms. Durakoglu. We wanted to be as responsive as possible 
and collect as many documents as possible.
    Mr. Moran. Prior to the May 22, 2023, deadline did the 
State Department in response to that April 28, 2023, subpoena--
did it assert any privileges or assert any objections in 
writing to the subpoena?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Not that I'm aware of, but if there are 
confidentiality issues, we're happy to work with your staff on 
that.
    Mr. Moran. Do you agree that the law requires that any 
objections or privileges be asserted prior to the date that the 
documents are determined to be--the deadline for documentation?
    Ms. Durakoglu. I would definitely refer to my legal 
advisor's office on that question.
    Mr. Moran. During a call on June 8, 2023, the State 
Department representatives asserted that production would be in 
the tens of thousands of pages. We have about 1,200 pages. Do 
you know when those other several thousands of pages will be 
produced?
    Ms. Durakoglu. I don't have the exact dates, but I know 
they're in production and we are producing on a rolling basis.
    Mr. Moran. Is there a point person among the 15 that you 
mentioned that is in charge of the supplementation?
    Ms. Durakoglu. There are a few individuals, and I know your 
staff is in touch with them.
    Mr. Moran. How far in the process are they on the 
supplementation and could we expect it say by August 1st?
    Ms. Durakoglu. I'm not sure on an exact date, but we can 
get you that information.
    Mr. Moran. Does the Global Engagement Center have an 
internal clock or deadline that it would like to meet to be 
done with the total production?
    Ms. Durakoglu. I don't believe the Global Engagement Center 
sets any deadlines, but I will say we do take subject matter 
experts who are full time on the Global Engagement Center off 
their daily duties to be able to help produce these documents.
    Mr. Moran. The subpoena compels the production of certain 
documents and communications internal to the GEC or between the 
GEC and the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government and its 
agencies including the FBI, as you know. I understand that the 
State Department has not produced all the documents responsive 
to these categories and specifically--I know asked generally 
just a second about when supplementation would occur, but on 
this specific instance do you know when supplementation of 
those documents would occurs?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Sir, are you asking about FBI records or GEC 
records?
    Mr. Moran. GEC records, but those communications with the 
Executive Branch including communications with the FBI which 
the GEC would have.
    Ms. Durakoglu. So, we search our entire system, so if it's 
within our system we are searching through all of that.
    Mr. Moran. Have you already run an internal computerized 
search for keywords internally for documents that would be 
responsive to the request?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Yes.
    Mr. Moran. Do you know what keywords were used?
    Ms. Durakoglu. No, sir, I don't.
    Mr. Moran. Are there any internal memos that would talk 
about what keywords to use?
    Ms. Durakoglu. I'm not aware, sir, but I will say that to 
prioritize our search we meet with your staff, and so that 
actually informs the search.
    Mr. Moran. On the redactions themselves, to work with the 
Committee staff to determine which redactions are appropriate, 
which ones are not, and where consensus can be made, is there a 
time in the next week when somebody from your office or you 
could be available to meet with them to actually go through and 
look at the redacted information in camera and determine 
whether or not that is appropriate or not?
    Ms. Durakoglu. We're happy to send my staff as well as the 
legal advisor's staff to be able to have that conversation, 
yes.
    Mr. Moran. You guys could do that in the next week, you 
think?
    Ms. Durakoglu. I believe we could do it in the next week, 
yes.
    Mr. Moran. All right. Anybody else involved in determining 
which information gets produced other than the 15 that you are 
talking about?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Yes, we do pull full-time subject matter 
experts off their duties to be able to actually sort through 
the information. So, these are foreign policy experts and those 
who are engaging in regular day-to-day department activities.
    Mr. Moran. If there was one person among all in the group 
that you would say the Committee needs to communicate with on 
this issue, in particular, for supplementation and for the 
redaction issues, who would that be?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Sir, I wouldn't say there's one person 
because this is a collaborative effort truly in the Department. 
So, there isn't one person, but if folks want to get in touch 
with me or the team they're already in touch with, we can 
actually arrange that conversation.
    Mr. Moran. All right. Thank you, Assistant Secretary Durak-
oglu.
    Ms. Durakoglu. Thank you.
    Mr. Moran. Thank you for your time. Appreciate it.
    I would yield back.
    Mr. Cline. I thank the gentleman.
    The gentleman from California is recognized for five 
minutes.
    Mr. Swalwell. The Judiciary Committee has oversight 
jurisdiction over a single agency at Health and Human Services, 
the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the purpose of this 
agency is to provide immigrants with humanitarian resources 
when they enter our border. Nowhere is this more important than 
with children, especially those unaccompanied by a parent or a 
guardian.
    Assistant Secretary Egorin, isn't it truth that Chair 
Jordan demanded access to files about unaccompanied minors as 
part of his request?
    Ms. Egorin. Thank you for the question, Congressman. We do 
have requests regarding the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
    Mr. Swalwell. Including unaccompanied minors?
    Ms. Egorin. Including document requests for--related to the 
Office of Refugee Resettlement, yes.
    Mr. Swalwell. Due to legitimate privacy concerns because we 
are talking about children, you offered to provide Chair Jordan 
with a in camera review, is that right?
    Ms. Egorin. That is correct. We provided 1,200 pages of 
information for in camera review which the staff were able to 
review.
    Mr. Swalwell. In camera means that it is not public; they 
have access to the documents, is that right?
    Ms. Egorin. That is correct.
    Mr. Swalwell. You even asked them because of the nature of 
what they were looking at and the privacy of minors to not take 
any pictures or to publish anything of what they were looking 
at, is that right?
    Ms. Egorin. Congressman, it is common practice that because 
of the sensitive nature of these documents and the in camera 
review process that pictures are not taken and that they're 
handled in a highly sensitive manner, yes.
    Mr. Swalwell. Were pictures taken during that in camera 
review by Chair Jordan's staff?
    Ms. Egorin. It is my understanding that pictures were 
taken, and that is an unfortunate outcome.
    Mr. Swalwell. It is worse than an unfortunate outcome. It 
is violating the privacy of minors. Assistant Secretary, were 
those--were parts of that--of those documents that you showed 
Chair Jordan's staff published?
    Ms. Egorin. Congressman, it is my understanding that parts 
of those documents were in the report produced by the majority.
    Mr. Swalwell. Again this goes to a theme that we are seeing 
here. We talked about this last week with Hunter Biden's 
laptop. You violate an individual's privacy, you take 
nonconsensual pictures from that laptop, you use it to 
weaponize a case against your political opponent. Here we are 
talking about minors. You are asked not to take pictures of 
information regarding minors. You take the pictures and you put 
them out to the public.
    Again, that is weird. I don't know why you would do that. 
It is also just creepy and it is wrong. Kids have their privacy 
violated to make a political point.
    Assistant Secretary Durakoglu, could you talk to me about 
what the Global Engagement Center is and why it is so important 
that the United States participates in it?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Of course. Thank you, Congressman, for the 
question. The Global Engagement Center works to recognize, 
understand, and expose foreign propaganda against the United 
States and its allies. Most of this propaganda emanates from 
Beijing, Tehran, as well as Moscow. As well as non-State 
actors, I should add.
    Mr. Swalwell. Does your work include providing vital 
information to intelligence communities to ensure we have rapid 
responses to conflicts like the war in Ukraine?
    Ms. Durakoglu. To be clear I actually don't work for the 
Global Engagement Center, but the center actually does have an 
interagency role and does work with the intelligence community, 
yes.
    Mr. Swalwell. Just based on your understanding of what the 
Global Engagement Center does and the State Department's role, 
what would happen if this program was discontinued?
    Ms. Durakoglu. If the program was discontinued; and I 
should say it needs to be reauthorized before the end of 2024, 
we would not have this interagency arm that actually looks, 
collects, analyzes, and exposes disinformation. We would be--I 
guess we would be really not in a good position if that were to 
happen.
    Mr. Swalwell. Just based on your general review of foreign 
disinformation that attacks political parties in America, do 
you see a distinction between one party benefiting over 
another, or is it the case that both parties in America and 
many of the entities that we value in America are all 
susceptible and vulnerable to disinfor-
mation?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Sir, again I'm not a subject matter expert 
on this issue, but I will say just from my own understanding 
these foreign propaganda arms do not discriminate.
    Mr. Swalwell. Thank you. I yield back.
    Mr. Cline. I thank the gentleman.
    The Committee now recognizes the gentlelady from Florida, 
Ms. Lee.
    Ms. Lee. Good morning and welcome, Ms. Egorin. Thank you 
for being here with us today.
    On June 2, 2023, the HHS ORR held a briefing regarding an 
internal audit it conducted following The New York Times 
investigation revealing allegations about labor trafficking and 
unaccompanied alien children, and that is where I would like to 
focus my questions here today.
    During the briefing the Committee asked whether all the HHS 
ORR's internal processes were followed in the case of the 
unaccompanied alien child who ultimately murdered Kayla 
Hamilton or was charged with murder in Kayla Hamilton. 
Additionally, the Committee asked to review the audit in that 
case.
    We are interested in the highest number of unaccompanied 
alien children that have been released to a single sponsor 
during the year 2023 and sent a message reiterating these 
requests for information on June 2, 2023. To date we have not 
received a response. Can you tell us when the Committee can 
expect to receive a response to this outstanding request?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Congressman, thank you for acknowledging the 
accommodation and the briefing that was provided to your team. 
We are working in good faith to be responsive, but I do not 
have a date certain for you right now.
    Ms. Lee. OK. On June 8, 2023, this Committee conducted a 
transcribed interview of the HHS ORR Director Robin Dunn 
Marcos. Dunn Marcos was unable to provide information or answer 
a series of the questions that were asked during that 
transcribed interview. About 30 questions approximately she was 
not able to answer.
    For example, she couldn't answer questions about whether 
the office she leads has a policy to refer known gang members 
to the DOJ. She also wasn't sure during that interview whether 
during her tenure the HHS had ever transferred an alien child 
to a home where a registered sex offender lives, among other 
questions. So, we also were interested in how many 
unaccompanied alien children we lost track of during this 
administration.
    So, during the interview she represented that the HHS would 
get back to us and provide us with answers following the 
interview, for those questions that they weren't able to answer 
at the time, that those answers would be provided to us 
subsequent to the interview. We are now 6 weeks later and the 
Committee does not have any update, or any supplemental answers 
and I am interested in whether you can tell us on what timeline 
we could expect to have that additional information.
    Ms. Durakoglu. Congresswoman, I am at this moment unaware 
of where we are in terms of a timeline. I'm happy to have my 
staff work with your staff and provide an update.
    Ms. Lee. Are you the person who could best communicate with 
us about that? In other words, if we want to try to establish a 
timeline or get a sense of when we could expect these answers, 
are the right representative to be coordinating with on that 
subject?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Yes, Congressman. I am the Assistant 
Secretary for Legislation. As I said in my testimony, it is my 
job to facilitate communications between Congress and the 
Department. I am happy to continue conversations and work in 
good faith to get you the answers.
    Ms. Lee. On March 2, 2023, the Committee requested a 
general briefing on the unaccompanied children placement 
process and a demonstration of the UAC portal. It has been over 
four months and we have not received yet the briefing on that 
unaccompanied children placement process or a demonstration of 
the portal. Can you tell us on what timeline could we schedule 
that briefing? When could we expect to actually have that 
occur?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Congresswoman, I will--when I go back to the 
office work, have my staff reach out to your office and start 
working through a process on that issue.
    Ms. Lee. On March 31, 2023, the Committee requested that 
the Department provide four of the annual reports on the 
repatriation of unaccompanied alien children, statutorily 
required to be produced in this case under 8 U.S.C. 
1232(a)(5)(c). Despite this report still being required to be 
produced we have only got two of the four. Do you have a 
timeline on when we could expect the remainder of those 
reports?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Congresswoman, I would like to take that 
back and understand what two have been provided and the process 
for providing the last two.
    Ms. Lee. All right. Mr. Chair, with that I yield back.
    Mr. Cline. I thank the gentlelady.
    The gentleman from Maryland is recognized for five minutes.
    Mr. Ivey. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I kind of want to start off 
where I left off at one of these previous hearings and sort of 
raising the issue again of the inefficiency of approaching 
these production issues in this way.
    I think that a lot of the questions that have been posed 
have sounded like scheduling issues to me, frankly. When can we 
get this? When can we get that? When can my staff meet with 
your folks over there? I really don't think we need to be 
spending hearing time to do this.
    This is particularly sticky for me this morning because I 
am actually missing a substantive hearing in another Judiciary 
Subcommittee. It is called the Right of Repair. I think Chair 
Issa is leading that. It is only I think the second substantive 
hearing I have done since I got on this Committee. All the 
others have been the weaponization stuff or this kind of a 
hearing about scheduling document productions and the like.
    I will add this too to that point: I mean, just in looking 
through these--by the way, when we had the Whitewater hearings 
the majority and the minority actually worked together before 
they sent subpoenas out to make sure they didn't send over-
broad requests. Obviously, they could have been voted out 
without doing that, as this Committee has done on all its 
subpoenas, I believe.
    These document requests, we don't see them until later, but 
these requests for all the information--let me pull up one of 
them just to read it for the record.

        All documents and communications from January 1, 2020, to the 
        present referring to, relating to the moderation, deletion, 
        suppression, restriction, or reduced circulation of content, 
        development--or development, execution, or application of a 
        company's content moderation policies, or a company's treatment 
        of the accuracy or truth of content, or the attribution of 
        content to the source of participation in a foreign or malign, 
        or a state-sponsored influence.

Then it goes down, ``All such documents and communications 
internal to the NIAID,'' which is the National Institute of 
Allergy and Infectious Diseases,

        All such documents and communications between or among the 
        NIAID and any third-party groups, companies, or individuals, 
        and all such documents and communications between or among the 
        NIAID and any other executive entity.

    That is a pretty broad request. As you just heard from the 
testimony a moment ago, they have to pull subject matter 
experts away from doing the work they are supposed to do; in 
this instance, I guess it is research with respect to 
infectious diseases, to answer these requests. It is like a 
snowball effect of constant requests that are coming to these 
agencies. I think there should be some kind of balance and 
recognition that they have a larger mission to serve.
    Now, we have different views about the disinformation 
position. I get what you all are after, but as you heard a 
moment ago, disinformation is real and the United States is a 
major threat to us internationally. Foreign sources, as was 
just mentioned ago: Iran, China, and Russia. If we really want 
to go after disinfor-
mation, really shouldn't we start with the disinformation 
expert-in-Chief, or former-Chief, President Trump? Here is an 
article: ``Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims as 
president. Nearly half came in his final year.'' That is from 
The Washington Post, Glenn Kessler, January 23, 2021. I will 
offer it for the record.
    Some of this was coronavirus would disappear. The one about 
bleach I thought was incredibly surprising. Hopefully you are 
not saying that this type of disinformation can't be challenged 
because I think it is certainly the government's place to do 
it.
    Mr. Cline. Would the gentleman yield?
    Mr. Ivey. With respect to--no. With respect to--well, I 
will yield--
    Mr. Cline. You are asking a question.
    Mr. Ivey. I am sorry?
    Mr. Cline. You asked me a question.
    Mr. Ivey. All right. With respect to the election fraud 
issues, which isn't the subject of this hearing, but really 
critical to the disinformation piece, we had false statements 
made about elections all the time. We have heard testimony in 
other places, because you sure won't hear it in the House 
Judiciary Committee, about State executives trying to find ways 
to preempt that in 2024. I don't mean like support this guy, 
support that guy. I mean stuff like this polling place isn't 
going to be open, that kind of stuff.
    Where it is false, we need to address that and we need to 
recognize that the government should be able to address it. I 
mentioned at a previous hearing on the same sort of topics the 
tobacco industry and the fight against smoking, wearing seat 
belts, all these kinds of things are government efforts to put 
out correct information in response to frequently corporate or 
political misinformation to help the public safety.
    I see my time has run over. Even including the interruption 
I have gone beyond that, but it is a plea for me to see if we 
can do more--we have gun violence ravaging the country. What 
have we had, like 300-plus mass killings this year so far? This 
is the Committee that is supposed to hear those issues and do 
something about it. We haven't done one hearing on it.
    So, if we could--I know you guys have to do this and you 
want to focus on it to some extent, but is it possible that we 
could do some kind of work that addresses the major concerns, 
like gun violence, that are sweeping the country, ravaging 
communities, and we're not even discussing it? With that I 
yield back.
    Mr. Cline. The gentleman from New Jersey is recognized for 
five minutes.
    Mr. Van Drew. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Just to answer your question quickly, perhaps if we didn't 
let people in and out of prison, lower felonies to 
misdemeanors, and generally not obey the rule of the law, we 
would have a lot less gun violence. The issue with gun violence 
is that we want to do something to make obviously our country 
safer, but we also don't want to harm those who are legal gun 
owners who abide by the law and do no harm.
    Our answers always seems to be in this body, in this 
Congress that we go after the decent law-abiding citizens, but 
those that have illegal guns, who steal guns, who commit crimes 
we are not worried about that anymore. So, that is my sense of 
that issue.
    I wanted to go on--
    Mr. Ivey. Would the gentleman yield for a question?
    Mr. Van Drew. I can't on this and I am sorry. I would like 
to if they gave us a little longer, so I apologize, but--
    Mr. Ivey. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Van Drew. --there are a few questions I wanted to ask. 
I have been doing a lot of talking already, so I am going to 
try my best with your name. Ms. Durakoglu?
    Ms. Durakoglu. [No response.]
    Mr. Van Drew. OK. Thank you. Thank you for being here. I 
have to admit it was only recently that the State Department's 
Global Engagement Center came to my attention. I have been in 
government a long time, 25 years, and I have been here in 
Congress for five years, yet it seems every day I am still 
learning of yet another office in our government tasked with 
the responsibility of censoring Americans on social media all 
under the guise of national security.
    So, quickly, can you please answer the following for me? I 
am sorry that it has to be quick. Again, I would have loved to 
have taken his question. I would love if we had more time, but 
this is a system we have for good reason, otherwise we would be 
here for 10 hours.
    Can you please answer the following: What is the purpose of 
the Global Engagement Center if not an instrument at times for 
censoring free speech the Administration doesn't like? I need 
you to do it quickly because I have a few other questions.
    Ms. Durakoglu. Sir, the Global Engagement Center does not 
engage in the domestic information space whatsoever and they do 
not censor information or engage in content moderation. What 
they do is they analyze, identify, and expose foreign 
propaganda.
    Mr. Van Drew. What authority is the GEC using to determine 
what constitutes the truth on social media?
    Ms. Durakoglu. The GEC was Congressionally mandated by a 
bipartisan bill in 2016, so I would refer to that bill.
    Mr. Van Drew. OK. Do you know the authority or are you just 
going to simply say it was Congressionally--
    Ms. Durakoglu. They actually do not engage in the domestic 
information space whatsoever.
    Mr. Van Drew. Not at all?
    Ms. Durakoglu. No.
    Mr. Van Drew. What is the budget of the GEC and how many 
people are working on this?
    Ms. Durakoglu. So, I know there are approximately 100 
employees in GEC, but in terms of its budget I would have to 
refer you to the GEC itself. They're more than happy to brief 
any Members of this Committee.
    Mr. Van Drew. OK. So you don't know any idea of the actual 
budget?
    Ms. Durakoglu. I don't know their budget, no.
    Mr. Van Drew. Yes or no, is the State Department operating 
any other similar offices whose goal is to censor speech deemed 
as untruthful or simply unpopular?
    Ms. Durakoglu. No.
    Mr. Van Drew. I have to give it to you, I very seldom get a 
direct answer from anybody.
    Ms. Durakoglu. Well, I am a fellow Rutgers alum, sir, so 
maybe it has something to do with it.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Van Drew. Yes, so when you are in Jersey, you are tough 
and you are straightforward.
    The current administration's relentless encroachment on our 
First Amendment rights is deeply concerning to me. It is 
especially unnerving considering that the President of the 
Department, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, orchestrated 
the intelligence community letter that was used to undermine 
the Hunter Biden laptop story leading to censorship of the New 
York Post story on this matter. So, there is a concerning 
pattern of suppressing speech coming from the leadership of 
this administration. Maybe it is not you, but Anthony Blinken 
has a lot to answer for.
    It seems evident that nearly every agency from the State 
Department to the HHS and the DOJ is embroiled in efforts in 
some way to suppress free speech on nearly every topic. This 
effort extends to external groups like the Alliance for 
Securing Democracy, the Atlantic Council, the Global 
Disinformation Index, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and 
I assume countless others that I probably don't even know.
    Given the government's overwhelming involvement in looking 
into American's conversations, it is crucial that this 
Committee rigorously exercise its oversight role and its 
responsibility because I find it very hard to believe that 
these actions haven't also ensnared a considerable number of 
innocent Americans.
    That is why on April 18th the Committee submitted a letter 
to Secretary Blinken requesting documents and information 
relating to the Department's possible coercion and collusion 
with companies and other intermediaries to stifle free speech. 
We are still waiting, we are still waiting for a response to 
that request.
    Yes or no, can you provide an estimate for when the 
Committee can expect to receive these documents? If nothing is 
wrong, if everything is good, if everything is right, you 
should want to turn them all over.
    Ms. Durakoglu. Sir, we actually did respond and we've 
provided four productions that equals nearly 1,200 pages, but 
it's on a rolling basis and we expect to provide more.
    Mr. Van Drew. My understanding there is much, much more 
that we didn't receive and we would love an accurate accounting 
of that, because that is also Congress' job and responsibility.
    Say yes or no, can the State Department guarantee the 
delivery of unredacted documents as per our request by August 
1st?
    Ms. Durakoglu. Sir, we provide everything, and some of that 
includes redactions, but we're happy to work with your staff on 
an accommodations process on those redactions.
    Mr. Van Drew. I hope you will.
    Ms. Durakoglu. Yes.
    Mr. Van Drew. I hope you really mean that. I hope it is 
only redacted when it is matters of national security. It has 
been this Committee's experience that constantly areas are 
redacted, and not just with you folks, but in general, that 
just don't know the need to be and it is not national security. 
So, I hope you will.
    Ms. Durakoglu. Congressman, can I respond to that?
    Mr. Van Drew. Yes.
    Ms. Durakoglu. I personally reviewed the four tranches that 
we provided to this Committee and I could say the vast majority 
is not redacted. When it is, it's due to personnel information 
privacy. Some of the implementers of the Global Engagement 
Center have faced threats from foreign actors and that's the 
reason why the redactions are there.
    Mr. Van Drew. I appreciate that. Just to close up, there 
are so many different departments, so many different agencies, 
so many people looking into for lack of a term personal stuff 
and personal freedoms. The most important freedom, more than 
security, is to have freedom. Freedom is more important than 
security. If we give up our freedom in America, we have given 
up everything. I fiercely believe that. I thank you. I yield 
back.
    Mr. Cline. I thank the gentleman.
    I want to thank our witnesses. I am going to take my five 
minutes. The CDC has a central role in setting COVID-19 
guidelines and deeming itself the arbiter of truth of claims 
associated with the disease, but common sense dictates that 
there are far more than 1,691 substantive pages of documents 
with the agency's possession. Additionally, the HHS has 
redacted names in the documents produced including the names of 
CDC personnel obstructing the Committee's efforts to identify 
key players in the CDC tech censorship regime.
    On April 28, 2023, the Committee subpoenaed the CDC for 
documents and information related to this coordination and 
collusion. As I said, we have received only 1,691 substantive 
pages. It is wholly inadequate, wholly incomplete and 
inadequate.
    Assistant Secretary Egorin, why has the CDC failed to 
produce all or at least many more responsive documents given 
the May 22nd deadline in the subpoena?
    Ms. Egorin. Congressman, we have produced, as you noted, 
almost 2,000 pages in response to the letters and subpoena and 
we produced additional pages just last week. We continue to be 
responsive and work in good faith as information moves forward.
    Mr. Cline. Now, the Subcommittee compels the production of 
various additional categories of documents as well. For 
example, certain documents and communications between or among 
the CDC and the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government. The 
subpoena compels the production of documents internal to the 
CDC as well. Would you not agree that the HHS has not produced 
all documents responsive to the subpoena?
    Ms. Egorin. Congressman, we continue to work in good faith 
to be responsive to your oversight requests. So, we produce--
    Mr. Cline. Would you agree that, thus far, you have not 
been completely responsive?
    Ms. Egorin. Congressman, so far we've produced 2,000 pages 
and we continue to work in good faith as we work through our 
process of identifying documents.
    Mr. Cline. Have you produced any documents or 
communications between or among the CDC and Executive Branch 
agencies?
    Ms. Egorin. Congressman, I do not have the productions in 
front of me, so I would like to be able to get back to you on 
that.
    Mr. Cline. I can tell you the exact number. Zero. So, zero 
pages of communications and documents between or among the CDC 
and Executive Branch agencies. Can you give us some idea of why 
you are differentiating between and essentially being selective 
in which documents you have decided to produce and which you 
haven't?
    Ms. Egorin. Congressman, we are not being selective. We are 
working to produce documents in a timely manner.
    Mr. Cline. OK.
    Ms. Egorin. We've done four productions to date and we will 
continue to work in good faith to produce additional documents.
    Mr. Cline. I am just curious because, leaving an entire 
category of internal documents aside and not producing a single 
page, you would think we would at least get some recognition 
that that category of information is important. Do you consider 
it to be important?
    Ms. Egorin. Congressman, I'm not making value judgments of 
what's more important or less important to the Committee. I'm 
happy to talk to you about prioritization of documents, but 
also want to recognize that we have produced 2,000 pages in 
response to this request and continue to work in good faith and 
work through our processes to identify documents.
    Mr. Cline. I am told one of the productions was a total of 
61 pages. Does that seem like drip, drip, drip delay?
    Ms. Egorin. So, Congressman, I'm going to judge--or I'm 
going to say that our team continues to work through our 
processes, and rather than sit and hold information, continue 
to produce, as my colleague said, in a rolling basis.
    Mr. Cline. So, other categories of the subpoena 
specifically refer to documents sufficient to show the persons 
and individuals who are or have been responsible in any way or 
that the CDC has cooperated with, consulted with, or relied on 
formally or informally in, quote,

         . . . developing, applying, executing, implementing, or 
        communicating the CDC's policies, views, or concerns relating 
        to the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, or 
        reduced circulation of content.

    The HHS' production thus far has redacted the names in 
emails of employees and third parties. Can you confirm that you 
are redacting and can you confirm that you will produce 
unredacted copies of these documents?
    Ms. Egorin. Congressman, I can confirm that there are 
redactions within the documents. Redactions exist for many 
reasons including personal identifying information. We take the 
safety of our employees and individuals very seriously and--
    Mr. Cline. As do we. I am going to end. I have got 20 
seconds left. Shifting gears a little bit. We are not going to 
do second round, but I want all of you to be aware, and I am 
going to submit for the record a letter that the Chair, Chair 
Jordan wrote to Director Wray of the FBI, who we have also had 
difficulties getting information from, but letting him know 
that it is not acceptable, that we are done waiting, and that 
this Committee is going to be taking action against him and 
those who continue to delay and obfuscate and refuse to provide 
that information.
    Mr. Cline. So, we look forward to hopefully getting that 
information from the both of you. We look forward to hopefully 
not having to take further action to encourage the production 
of those documents.
    With that, the Subcommittee stands adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 10:55 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

    All materials submitted for the record by Members of the 
Subcommittee on Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight 
can be found at: https://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/
ByEvent .aspx?EventID=116231.

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