Jonathan Gruber "sounded like somebody who had something to hide" in his testimony Tuesday before a House oversight committee over his degrading comments about the American public and Obamacare, Rep. Blake Farenthold told Newsmax.
"I don't think he was as candid with the committee and he should have been," the Texas Republican said. Gruber testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Farenthold chairs one of the panel's subcommittees.
"He was part of the instigator in putting out this, 'if you like your health insurance you keep it.' He admitted he knew that wasn't true," Farenthold said. "He had a moral obligation, at the very least, to say something to some folks."
In his testimony, Gruber, an MIT economist, apologized for what he called "a series of glib, thoughtless and sometimes downright insulting comments" about whether Americans understood the Affordable Care Act.
Excerpts of Gruber's comments on "the stupidity of the American voter" exploded on the Internet last month.
The federal government paid him nearly $400,000 for his work on Obamacare. He has advised several states on healthcare issues, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He lost a $450,000 consulting contract with Vermont last week.
Gruber opened his remarks to the oversight panel by "apologizing sincerely for the offending comments that I made. In some cases, I made uninformed and glib comments about the political process behind healthcare reform.
"I am not an expert on politics and my tone implied that I was, which was wrong," Gruber said. Several times in his opening statement, he said, "I am not a political adviser nor a politician."
He added that Obamacare's passage in 2010 was transparent and heavily debated in public, despite his comments. Gruber also said that he was not the "architect" of the law. "I am embarrassed, and I am sorry."
But those words did not sway committee Republicans, including Chairman Darrell Issa of California, who hammered Gruber's testimony and demanded details of how much state and federal governments paid him for consulting on his models for healthcare costs.
"This guy took a lot of money — and for all practical purposes, was a party to deceiving the American people about the cause and effect of Obamacare," Farenthold told Newsmax.
He dismissed Gruber's assertions that he only worked as a consultant on the healthcare plan.
"I guess we're splitting hairs there," Farenthold said. "When you're hired by the government to give advice, even if it's entirely of a factual nature, you've got to be aware that the information you're providing is going to be used for a political purpose, either to support or oppose a position.
"Certainly based on the videotapes and some of the comments he made, he certainly had an interest in politics — even though he may not have been a professional political operative."
In characterizing Gruber's testimony overall, Farenthold told Newsmax: "He was falling on the sword for the administration, and I don't think he was very happy about it."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.