“Fired for being right”: Trump admin whistleblower testifies to Congress

Enlarge / Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, steps out of the hearing room before testifying about the government response to the novel coronavirus pandemic to the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill May 14, 2020 in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images | Chip Somodevilla )

US Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and other Democratic lawmakers today blasted the Trump administration for demoting Rick Bright, the whistleblower who says his early warnings about the COVID-19 pandemic and supply shortages were ignored.

"Dr. Bright has filed one of the most specific and troubling whistleblower complaints I have ever seen," Eshoo said today. "He was the right person with the right judgment at the right time. He was not only ignored-he was fired for being right. We can't have a system where the government fires those who get it right and reward those who get it completely wrong."

Eshoo's comments came in her opening statement during a hearing held by the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health, which Eshoo chairs. Eshoo criticized the Trump administration for "incompetence, denial, delay, and a disorganized response."

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