Last month Julie Gerberding, the director of the highly-respected Centers for Disease Control, testified on global warming before the Senate, but her was sharply cut by the White House. Subsequently she told the New York Times that she said everything she needed to say, but if you look at the testimony, I promise you, you will find that hard to believe.
More than half (1604/3086) her words were cut, and truly, the core of her statement was cut out. Take a look at the full/redacted testimony at Science Progress, if you doubt me. Her testimony on heat, extreme weather, allergies such as asthma, water-borne diseases, and numerous other topics were "eviscerated," according to officials within the CDC. (They wouldn’t allowed themselves to be named, for fear of being fired.)
Senator Barbara Boxer of California wrote to the White House to ask why the testimony was cut, and the White House responded with an executive privilege claim. The White House counsel said:
…the request by its very nature seeks
communications involving pre-decisional deliberative materials relating
to an inter-agency review process…it is clear that the request
implicates core Executive Branch interests and raises separation of powers concerns.”
In this case, "core Executive Branch interests" seems to be code for: We don’t want to talk about it. Kind of like a tight-lipped parent afraid to talk about sex with the kids. Who knows where the conversation might lead? Can’t have that.
Once Jack Nicholson played a military character who uttered a now-famous line: "The truth? You can’t handle the truth."
This White House is even wimpier: they can’t handle being asked about the truth.
Kit Stolz 