Democratic Colorado Representative Diana Degette expressed her frustration towards her Republican counterparts on Wednesday for their criticism of National Public Radio (NPR) CEO Katherine Maher’s absence at a hearing. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce had requested Maher’s presence at the hearing to address allegations of ideological bias at NPR, following claims made by editor Uri Berliner, who had been with the organization for 25 years, that NPR had a vendetta against former President Donald Trump.
Despite Maher’s absence due to a scheduling conflict with an all-day board meeting, Republicans continued to target her, prompting Degette to condemn the committee for what she deemed as partisan behavior.
“I want to say, shame on this committee for doing this,” Degette said. “Apparently … the majority members keep attacking the NPR CEO Katherine Maher because she’s not here. They gave her one week notice, she’s a brand new CEO and today is her board meeting, her first board meeting as CEO, and you want to haul her in here so that you can rake her over the coals for your partisan issues. Shame on this committee! I’m beside myself. I think it’s outrageous.”
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