Polish Platter Dinner at Saint John Kanty Church on January 27th

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) offered an apology to fired CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez on Wednesday during the Senate Health Committee hearing, surprising CNN anchor Brianna Keilar.

"That apology from Sen. Kaine was really something," Keilar said, adding that officials who heard her testimony over her resignation called her and other CDC officials who resigned "heroes."

Monarez was fired by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy disputes. In the hearing, Monarez testified that Kennedy asked her not to talk to senators and pressured her to give him full pre-approval over any changes to vaccine policies at the agency. She, along with other ousted colleagues, warned the senators that Kennedy is risking Americans' public health.

“Dr. Monarez, I owe you an apology," Kaine said. "When you were here for your confirmation hearing, I questioned you very significantly, not on your qualifications – you got over the qualifications bar easily – but my worries about the direction of HHS made me question you very significantly on your backbone, a trait that is not in long supply in this town. And then when I voted against your confirmation. I cited that as the reason. Again, no concern about your qualifications. I had concern about your backbone. And I was wrong and I apologize to you for being wrong. I think it’s important when you’re wrong to admit you’re wrong.”

Democrats had voted unanimously against her confirmation.

Kennedy, who is known for his anti-vaccine advocacy, later fired 17 CDC employees and replaced them with his own selected staff who follow his views.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel that issues vaccine recommendations, is scheduled to meet Thursday, according to reports.

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Federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, daughter of former FBI director James, has named right-wing influencer and so-called "Trump Whisperer" Laura Loomer in a lawsuit contesting her abrupt firing, for which "The Justice Department gave no reason," reports The New York Times.

Comey, who was working on cases involving Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Sean "Diddy" Combs when she was fired from the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York in July, "calls her firing ... illegal," the Times reports.

The lawsuit, in which Comey seeks her job, back pay and legal fees, names several defendants, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Office of the President and Loomer. Loomer called for Comey's firing via a successful social media campaign.

After Comey was let go, Loomer took a victory lap for what she deemed "a pressure campaign."

“This comes 2 months after my pressure campaign on Pam Blondi to fire Comey’s daughter and Comey’s son-in-law from the DOJ,” Loomer boasted in a X post, referring to Bondi.

On Monday, Will Sommer, senior reporter at The Bulwark, posted on X, "One NSC official stood between what appears to be a wildly corrupt deal involving the UAE, AI chips, and China. Then Laura Loomer intervened and got him fired. (She says it had nothing to do with the chip deal)."

“Laura is more trouble than she’s worth,” a White House official told The Free Press in July.

In the lawsuit, Comey said that the U.S. attorney, Jay Clayton, was unable to provide her with a reason for her termination.

“All I can say is it came from Washington,” Clayton told her, according to the lawsuit. “I can’t tell you anything else.”