00:06Chair now recognizes Representative Burchett.
00:08Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:09Thank you, ma'am, for being here.
00:10I think what you're seeing on display here today is the far left is sacrificing a lot of their moderate members just to protect themselves.
00:22I think they're more important to stay in their corrupt little cocoon of power than to do what's right for this country.
00:29And I want to thank you, ma'am, for the work you've done.
00:31I noticed you were talking about real estate.
00:33I didn't have it in my notes, but I remembered in another hearing that we had in an empty building that we were renting out that Chairman Green had us, Marjorie Taylor Green had us in, in the DOGE subcommittee that I asked a question about the members of Congress own real estate that's being rented to the federal government.
00:57And the answer was yes.
00:58And if we had legitimate media in this country, that would have been a 60-minute story.
01:04That would have been something that would have been done over and over again.
01:08And it's clearly, and they're stealing from all of us, the left, the right, the middle, everyone.
01:14And you clearly have a record of going after political hacks.
01:18And I salute you for that, ma'am.
01:20This town is full of them.
01:22Yes, ma'am, it is.
01:23And I'm from Tennessee, and we're sick and tired of paying for this garbage.
01:27And I want to thank you.
01:28Is the U.S. agency of global media absolutely necessary to the function of the United States?
01:35No.
01:36Okay.
01:36To think that we're putting out some radio show in the land of computers and Internet, to me, is very antiquated.
01:47We might as well be riding a Model T down the middle of the street.
01:50Maybe it looks good and it brings back old memories, but dadgum, it's not very efficient.
01:55And I see you're more of an efficient.
01:56It's a relic.
01:57Yes, ma'am.
01:58It is.
01:58It's a Cold War relic.
02:01And I want to ask you another question, a little more direct.
02:04Some other lady named Satera Siege, does she work for the U.S. agency for global media?
02:11Do you know?
02:12I don't believe she works there anymore.
02:14Okay.
02:14Because in 2017, Ms. Siege was fired from the Voice of America, Persian News Network, for lying on her resume,
02:21providing federal contracts to her friends, and using tax dollars for personal travel.
02:27In 2021, about eight hours after Biden was sworn in, Ms. Siege was given a job right back at the U.S. agency for global media.
02:35And during the last Congress, she and others at the U.S. agency for global media actively worked to discredit a report from the committee by then-chairman McCall,
02:44which detailed her actions and included whistleblower complaints, stating she and others threatened subordinates at work.
02:51Are you aware of any other cases similar to Ms. Siege, ma'am?
02:56Yes.
02:56A lot of the people that were implicated in that report, the McGuire-Woods report, who pilfered the American taxpayers' dollars and ran a very corrupt agency and were dismissed or left, then came back.
03:10And some of them are still holding positions making hundreds of thousands of dollars at our grantees.
03:16This is why we're trying to do an audit of the grantees to find out where the money is going.
03:20Nearly $400 million, the hard-earned taxpayer dollars of hard-working American people are going to these grantees,
03:28and they've stonewalled us from getting any information until the 11th hour.
03:32Finally, last night, knowing I would be sitting here, they finally agreed to say, oh, we'll let you look at our books now.
03:40It's a joke, what's going on.
03:42And the joke is going to end, and we're going to bring some accountability to this agency because the people of this country are sick and tired of the crap going on in Washington, D.C.
03:51They're sick and tired of their money being spent in a way where it's not only being wasted, but where we're putting out Russian propaganda, where we're putting out CCP propaganda on Voice of America.
04:05This is a boondoggle, and it's an assault on the American people.
04:10If I ever write a book, the title of it will be Compromised, because that's what this dadgum town is, ma'am.
04:16It is crooked as a dog's leg, and I'm glad you're doing something about it.
04:20Do you agree anyone who acts like Ms. C should be shown the door?
04:25Absolutely, and we are showing people the door.
04:28And I thank you for that.
04:29I come from a family of strong women.
04:32My mama flew an airplane during the Second World War.
04:34My little girl is, I got her a little late.
04:37I married her mama.
04:38She was a widow and adopted her.
04:41She is a strong young lady, shares a birthday with the president, just turned 18.
04:46And I hope one day she aspires to kick the hornet's nest like you've just done, ma'am, because it's a pleasure to have you where you're at.
04:55And thank you so much.
04:56And I appreciate you having to put up with all this crazy nonsense, but we've got a country to save, and I hope you keep doing it.
05:02That's right.
05:03That's right.
05:03Thank you, ma'am.
05:04And they've sued us.
05:06They've tried to stop us.
05:08They want to stop President Trump from making America great again.
05:11These same people who refuse to stand up and cheer for a 13-year-old boy who's battling cancer.
05:17These same people who stood on the floor of Congress and waved the Ukrainian flag after pouring $60 billion more into a war to kill more people when they wouldn't put a penny on our border.
05:30And they let our country be overrun with criminals coming into our country who are raping and killing young people and taking their lives.
05:37And now they want to try to fight President Trump every day and stop him from deporting people who came here illegally.
05:45And they want to continue running Chinese propaganda at Voice of America.
05:50I thank your mother for being a hero, for being a veteran.
05:56And I know the chairman fought valiantly for our country.
06:00She wasn't technically a veteran.
06:01I have to clarify that.
06:02Her brother died fighting the Nazis while daddy was all fighting the Japanese.
06:06But I'd have to clarify that just because of the fact checkers.
06:10But she was a gentleman's time.
06:12The gutsy little 17-year-old girl.
06:13We have to move on to the next round of questioning here.
06:16There's a lot of people who are rolling over in their grave right now who did die for this country.
