Searching For Jonathan Gruber’s Undocumented Research Assistants

Like many American employers, Jonathan Gruber apparently has a problem with undocumented workers. Except his could place him in serious legal jeopardy.

This week Democratic Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin decided to abandon a plan to introduce a single-payer health care plan to the state legislature in 2015. That was the first casualty of the fallout related to Gruber’s controversial comments about the “stupidity” of American voters, but it is unlikely to be the last.

The next casualty could well be Gruber himself.

As part of his $280,000 contract with the state of Vermont to conduct economic modeling for the state’s potential single-payer plan, Gruber has billed the state $100,000 for 1,000 hours of work by unnamed research assistants.

The state paid Gruber, personally, $80,000 against these invoices, trusting that Gruber would in turn pay his research assistants. Gruber, however, has yet to produce any documentation concerning these research assistants. He has not provided their identities, defined work product, or proven he made the payments to them.

Breitbart has repeatedly asked Gruber to produce this documentation, and has now done so again, asking him to provide it by Monday.

This lack of worker documentation caught the attention of Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer, who on December 3 asked the Shumlin administration to provide him with the names, employment status, and contact information for these research assistants.

To date, the Shumlin Administration has not responded to Hoffer’s request.

Breitbart News reached out to Professor Gruber at that time as well, but has yet to receive any response.

Here’s what we asked him:

1. Have you provided the Shumlin administration with the details of the names, employment status and contact information of the research assistants who you said in your invoices to the state of Vermont have worked 1,000 hours on your project?

As you know, State Auditor Doug Hoffer requested this information of the Shumlin administration on December 3, but has apparently not yet received it.

2. Has State Auditor Doug Hoffer contacted you directly about this information request yet?
3. Can you produce the cancelled checks to the research assistants you’ve paid in conjunction with this contract with the state of Vermont? You’ve billed $100,000 (1,000 hours of research assistant time at $100 per hour) and been paid $80,000 against these invoices by the state of Vermont.
4. If so, can you forward a scanned copy of those cancelled checks, front and back?
5. If not, will you refund the state of Vermont the $80,000 you received for these research assistant billings?
6. If so, by what date?

Breitbart News and the Vermont State Auditor’s Office may not be the only entities posing such questions to Gruber.

Incoming Chairman of the federal House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) is expected to ask Gruber to testify again before his committee when the new Congress convenes in January. Gruber has apparently failed to respond to a subpoena issued by outgoing Chairman Darell Issa for all work product from his federal and state Obamacare related contracts.

Last week, the Competitive Enterprise Institute sued the Dept of HHS to produce all documents related to Gruber’s contract with that department, upon which all the economic modeling for Obamacare was based.

The next set of questions posed to Gruber could come from the Vermont Attorney General’s office, or the soon to be acting US Attorney in Vermont, Eugenia Cowles.