Issa follows up Gruber grilling with subpoenas

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Gruber remarks put Obama administration on defense

Phil Kerpen reacts to comments by ObamaCare architect

The powerful lawmaker who put loose-lipped ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber on the hot seat earlier this week isn’t quite finished with the MIT economist.

Rep. Darrell Issa, the Republican congressman who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform, has issued a subpoena demanding all of Gruber’s documents and communications with federal, state, or local government employees regarding his work on the controversial health care law.

“As one of the architects of ObamaCare, Jonathan Gruber is in a unique position to shed light on the ‘lack of transparency’ surrounding the passage of the President’s health care law, however he has so far been unwilling to fully comply with the Oversight Committee’s repeated requests,” Chairman Issa said in a statement. “This week, Dr. Gruber repeatedly refused to answer several key questions, including the amount of taxpayer funds he received for his work on ObamaCare. The American people deserve not just an apology, but a full accounting, which Dr. Gruber must provide.”

Gruber, who was captured on several recently-surfaced videos alluding to the “stupidity” of the American voter and acknowledging that the Affordable Care Act was intentionally written in a dense fashion because it would never pass if people understood it, was called before the committee on Tuesday. He sought to apologize for his remarks, but GOP lawmakers accused him of evasion and of  creating a false model as part of "a pattern of intentional misleading" to get ObamaCare passed.

“You made a series of troubling statements that were not only an insult to the American people, but revealed a pattern of intentional misleading [of] the public about the true impact and nature of ObamaCare," Issa said on Tuesday.

Gruber has made several million dollars from state and federal governments as a consultant on the plan, although he disputes the “ObamaCare architect” label.

"I sincerely apologize for conjecturing with a tone of expertise and for doing so in such a disparaging fashion," Gruber said. "I knew better. I know better. I'm embarrassed and I'm sorry."

But when asked how much money he had been paid for his work, Gruber referred lawmakers to his attorney.

The subpoena seeks all documents and communications referring or relating to funding — for research or otherwise — from any federal, state, or local government agency, including any contracts with federal, state, or local government agencies.  It also seeks work products that Gruber created, as well as  communications with government officials related to the ACA, and federal and state exchanges.