Musk To Rehire Marko Elez

WaPo  |  Elon Musk, the head of the U.S. DOGE Service, announced Friday that he would rehire a staffer who resigned after he was tied to a social media account with a history of racist posts.

“He will be brought back,” Musk wrote on X, the platform he owns. “To err is human, to forgive divine.”

Into The Microsoft Cloud Equals Into The Maws Of Palantir...,

CTH  |  Yes, the Govt is in crisis, and just as sure as you are reading this, the administrators within the IC already have the solution ready to roll.”

♦ RESULT – “We will use advanced technology and non-partisan AI programming, to make the government more efficient and ensure this level of corruption and wasteful spending never happens again.”

Every dollar will be tracked, monitored and oversight will be transparent and available for everyone to see. Just ignore the part where the same efficiency system is monitoring your real ID, connecting your personage to the new govt and private sector interfaces, and click “I agree” on your next federal tax filing. Trust us Comrade citizen, the new technologically advanced DODGE approved govt system cares about responsible stewardship and you. Swear.”

The process starts by downloading government data to an AI enhanced database for review and filtration.

Good Stuff – […] Trump created DOGE through a day one executive order with a stated mission to cut government waste. Musk and his aides have assumed control of federal IT infrastructure as his team swiftly blitzes through departments and agencies. Trump, with Musk’s guidance, this week gutted the United States Agency for International Development and merged it into the State Department. The president has signaled he might try to eliminate the Department of Education by executive order next.

“They’re putting a shot across the administrative state’s bow,” Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, said last week of the mass federal buyout plan on his “War Room” podcast. “That’s DOGE signaling to you that they’ve got a plan of how to take the personnel down.”

[…]  Federal employees who want to remain in the federal workforce were told in the “Fork in the Road” email they must return to in-person work, embrace new “performance standards” and be “reliable, loyal and trustworthy” in their work. The email also warned that most federal departments and agencies will be “downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force.”

On Tuesday, the buyout offer was extended to nearly all employees of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Some federal employees said they were alarmed at the short timeframe they were given to make their decisions.

“I have invested way too much time and energy and interest into my career to just say, ‘hell with it’ and leave when I only have, like, five to 10 years left before I retire,” one federal worker said.  “I’m not taking the resigning bait. So, I guess I’ll essentially just ride down with the ship if they decide to get rid of us,” the worker added, though he acknowledged some less experienced colleagues might take the buyout. (more)

The streamlining and downsizing of government through the use of AI systems is a good thing, perhaps a very good thing.  However, watch out for deployment into the DHS apparatus because that will give rise to the newly expanded Surveillance State.

Peaceniks don’t build bombs; and those who genuinely believe in liberty do not build nor support domestic surveillance networks that can be weaponized depending on who is in power.

 

The DOGE Terror Alert In Washington DC Is Priceless

JONATHAN TURLEY ON DOGE: THE TERROR ALERT IN WASHINGTON IS QUITE ASTONISHING

“You have people all over the Beltway breathing in paper bags right now because of the idea that they could bring in these people, and that they're going to think outside the box.

That's what Musk is… pic.twitter.com/vYF3vDML0t

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 7, 2025

 

Swamp Critters Tryna Cancel The DOGE By Cancelling Its Young Worker Bees...,

pro publica  |  On President Donald Trump’s authority alone, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has been unleashed on federal agencies. Employees from Musk’s companies and those of his allies, as well as young staffers he’s recruited, are wresting authority from career workers and commandeering computer systems.

While some have been public about their involvement, others have attempted to keep their roles secret, scrubbing LinkedIn pages and other sources of data. With little information from the White House, ProPublica is attempting to document who is involved and what they are doing.

Musk’s team, known as the Department of Government Efficiency, has already thrown entire swaths of the federal government and its programs into disarray — programs that serve millions of Americans.

Musk himself has made no secret of his intentions, saying that DOGE is a “wood chipper for bureaucracy” and that he is “deleting” agencies.

A White House spokesperson wrote, “Those leading this mission with Elon Musk are doing so in full compliance with federal law, appropriate security clearances, and as employees of the relevant agencies, not as outside advisors or entities.” None of the people identified responded to requests for comment.

The DOGE Is The Repurposed United States Department of Digital Services...,

wired  |  As one of his first acts after being sworn in, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by reorganizing and renaming an existing entity, the US Digital Services (USDS), as the US DOGE Service. And while some have noted that this version of DOGE moves away from the sweeping vision of deregulation outlined in a November Wall Street Journal op-ed, it's a move that will give centibillionaire Elon Musk and his allies seemingly unprecedented insight across the government, and access to troves of federal data.

“It’s quite a clever way of integrating DOGE into the federal government that I think will work, in the sense of giving it a platform for surveillance and recommendations,” says Richard Pierce, a law professor at George Washington University.

Soon after his election victory, Trump announced that he would form DOGE, led by Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, to provide ​​"advice and guidance from outside the government"—something that would generally require it be formed as a federal advisory committee. The idea was that DOGE would provide recommendations for how to cut some $2 trillion from the federal budget. (Shortly before Trump’s inauguration, Ramaswamy exited the DOGE project.)

Musk put out a call for people to work with DOGE online, and turned the Washington, DC office of his company SpaceX into a staging ground for the entity while bringing in other major figures from Silicon Valley to assist in the effort. Billionaire investor Marc Andreessen apparently joined the effort as a self-proclaimed “unpaid intern.”

But under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, committees of the sort DOGE seemed to be shaping up to have several legal requirements, including making all meetings publicly accessible and requiring a diversity of perspectives on the committee itself. By repurposing the USDS, which was already part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Trump managed to skirt both the requirements of a formal advisory committee and the Congressional oversight required when creating a new federal agency. In short, it meant DOGE would get more access to sensitive data than an advisory committee would likely have, while offering less transparency.

The USDS was created by former president Barack Obama to untangle dysfunctional or failing technology across the federal government in the wake of the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov. The Service’s mandate allows it the wide-ranging ability to enter any government agency and access its software or technical systems with the goal of helping to streamline or reform existing systems.

Under the executive order, DOGE teams, which “will typically include one DOGE Team Lead, one engineer, one human resources specialist, and one attorney” will be dispatched to various agencies. They will be granted “access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems,” ostensibly with the goal of streamlining data sharing across federal agencies.

A former USDS employee who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity called the repurposing of the Digital Service an “A+ bureaucratic jiu-jitsu move.” But, they say, they’re concerned that DOGE’s access to sensitive information could be used to do more than just streamline government operations.

“Is this technical talent going to be pointed toward using data from the federal government to track down opponents?” they ask. “To track down particular populations of interest to this administration for the purposes of either targeting them or singling them out or whatever it might end up being?”

 

Have You Ever Heard Of An Innocent Person Getting A Pre-emptive Pardon?

December, 2020. Joy Reid: Have you ever heard of somebody getting a preemptive pardon who is an innocent person?

Adam Schiff: No.

Today Adam Schiff got a preemptive pardon. pic.twitter.com/s83ghqk0rs

— MAZE (@mazemoore) January 20, 2025

 

The Big Guy Grants Amnesty To The Biden Crime Family

NYTimes  |   President Biden pardoned five members of his family in his last minutes in office, saying in a statement that he did so not because they did anything wrong but because he feared political attacks from incoming President Donald J. Trump.

“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics,” he said in his last statement as president. “Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”

Mr. Biden’s action pardoned James B. Biden, his brother; Sara Jones Biden, James’s wife; Valerie Biden Owens, Mr. Biden’s sister; John T. Owens, Ms. Owens’s husband; and Francis W. Biden, Mr. Biden’s brother.

The White House announced the pardons with less than 20 minutes left in Mr. Biden’s presidency, after he had already walked into the Capitol Rotunda to witness the swearing-in of Mr. Trump before leaving the Capitol for the last time as president.

The pardons were a remarkable coda to Mr. Biden’s 50-year political career, underscoring the mistrust and anger that the president feels about Mr. Trump, the man who preceded and will succeed him in office.

Mr. Biden had repeatedly warned that Mr. Trump was a threat to democracy in America. But he also said that he believed in the rule of law, and was confident in the stability of the institutions of law enforcement. The pardons — like one that he did earlier for his son, Hunter Biden, threatened to challenge that assertion.

In his statement, Mr. Biden explained his action.

“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Mr. Biden wrote. “But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances.”

I Can't Wait Until The "Deliberative" Body Tangles With Col. Gabbard...,

OMG. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/EOZitH70hO

— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) January 15, 2025

 

Of Course Quinones Knew That The Pacific Palisades Reservoir Was Empty

cbsnews  |  Why was the Santa Ynez Reservoir empty when the fires broke out?

The reservoir was taken out of service to "meet safe drinking water regulations," the DWP said in a statement. A tear in the reservoir's cover made the water supply subject to contamination, the Los Angeles Times reported, leading the agency to drain it in February.

"The water system serving the Pacific Palisades area and all of Los Angeles meets all federal and state fire codes for urban development and housing," the release said. 

DWP representatives did not respond to further questions about the reservoir from CBS News. The agency's statement suggested that the fact the reservoir was empty for nearly a year was in part due to the process of contracting a company to carry out the repairs.  

"To commission the support and resources to implement repairs to Santa Ynez, LADWP is subject to the city charter's competitive bidding process which requires time," the statement read.

The reservoir is intended to provide water storage "for domestic use and fire fighting purposes in the Pacific Palisades area" according to city documents. 

DWP says that the agency is conducting its own investigation on its "water resiliency." But experts and officials agree that the extent of the wildfires would have put a strain on the city's water supply regardless of whether the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been full. 

In his letter to DWP, Newsom wrote, "While water supplies from local fire hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas, losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors." 

David Freyberg, PhD, a hydrologist and water resources specialist at Stanford University, told CBS News in an email that while a full Santa Ynez would have had benefits, it's not clear how much impact it would have had. 

"The reservoirs above Pacific Palisades were not designed to support fire-fighting at the scale of [this] fire," he wrote. "Water supply reservoirs are typically designed to cope with house fires, not wildfires."

He added that the situation has made it clear that larger-scale solutions are necessary. 

 

When English Is Not Your First Language Or You Just Forget How To Speak English...,

axios  |  As devastating wildfires raged across Los Angeles County this week, firefighters battling the blazes encountered fire hydrants that had no water.

Why it matters: The dry fire hydrants sparked political outrage and illustrated just how unprepared municipal water systems are to combat the sorts of large-scale urban wildfires that have become more frequent with climate change.

• Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday ordered an independent investigation into the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP), the nation's largest municipal utility, over hydrants and water supply issues. DWP provides water for more than four million L.A. residents and serves Pacific Palisades, a wealthy area of Los Angeles where much of the destruction took place.
• "While water supplies from local fire hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas, losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors," Newsom said. "We need answers to how that happened."
• President-elect Trump has suggested Newsom was to blame for the dry hydrants — claiming without evidence that he blocked water supply to the south of the state with the state's fish conservation efforts. The governor and other experts have sharply rejected the claims.
• "We are looking at a situation that is just completely not part of any domestic water system design," Marty Adams, a former DWP general manager and engineer, told The New York Times.

The big picture: Fire hydrants running out of water isn't unheard of during severe wildfires, said Faith Kearns, a water and wildfire expert with the Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University. Similar instances were reported during wildfires in Maui, Colorado and Oregon,

• "It's something that we have definitely started to see as, essentially, these wildland fires move into urban areas and become urban conflagrations," Kearns said.
• "Our urban water supply is meant to deal more with things like a single house being on fire," she added.

Why did the fire hydrants run dry?

Firefighters battling the Palisades Fire earlier this week encountered swaths of fire hydrants with no water after the three water tanks supplying the Pacific Palisades ran dry by 3 a.m. Wednesday, Janisse Quiñones, chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said at a press briefing later that day.

• The area's water system had been pushed "to the extreme," she said. "Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure."
• The problem persisted for hours while wildfires ravaged the area, the New York Times reported.

bonjour bonne année...,

2025 is a mathematical wonder.!! pic.twitter.com/WsUfhKF4C9

— 𝗟 𝗼 𝗹 𝗹 𝘂 𝗯 𝗲 𝗲 (@Lollubee) December 30, 2024

 

He Got That Fresh Lineup and Shave....,

yahoo  |  Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City on Dec. 4, waived his right to extradition at the Blair County courthouse in Pennsylvania on Thursday morning.

New York City police officers escorted Mangione out of the courthouse and flew him to New York, where he was indicted earlier this week. He is expected to appear in a state court for arraignment in New York either later Thursday or on Friday.

Federal authorities have now filed murder, stalking and weapons charges against Mangione, according to a complaint that was unsealed Thursday. It is unclear when he would appear in court for the federal charges.

By waiving his extradition hearing, Mangione has voluntarily agreed to put his Pennsylvania criminal case on hold and return to New York for prosecution there. Among the charges he will face in New York include murder as an act of terrorism, which carries a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.

Although neither Mangione nor his New York attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, have commented on the situation, David Sarni, a former NYPD detective and current adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told Yahoo News it’s not unusual that Mangione and Agnifilo filed to waive extradition in this case.

“Extradition takes place usually when the case is stronger in the other state and if the prosecution is willing to do the extradition hearing,” Sarni said.

The Federal charge of Murder Through The Use Of A Firearm makes Mangione eligible for the Federal death penalty....,

 

 

Meanwhile, Russia Launches Free mRNA Cancer Vaccine

Reuters  |  MOSCOW, Feb 14 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russian scientists were close to creating vaccines for cancer that could soon be available to patients.

Putin said in televised comments that "we have come very close to the creation of so-called cancer vaccines and immunomodulatory drugs of a new generation".

 

"I hope that soon they will be effectively used as methods of individual therapy," he added, speaking at a Moscow forum on future technologies.

 

TASS  |  MOSCOW, December 15. /TASS/. Russia has developed its own mRNA vaccine against cancer, it will be distributed to patients free of charge, General Director of the Radiology Medical Research Center of the Russian Ministry of Health Andrey Kaprin has told Radio Rossiya.

The vaccine was developed in collaboration with several research centers. It is planned to launch it in general circulation in early 2025.

Earlier, Director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology Alexander Gintsburg told TASS that the vaccine’s pre-clinical trials had shown that it suppresses tumor development and potential metastases.

 

Executive Claims Adjuster Formally Branded A Terrorist...,

NYTimes   |   Luigi Mangione on Tuesday was formally accused of first-degree murder, a charge that branded him a terrorist and aimed directly at the idea that the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive was a legitimate political act.

“This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,” said Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, at a news conference on Tuesday.

The assassination of the chief executive, Brian Thompson, on Dec. 4 in the heart of Manhattan set off a dayslong manhunt and captivated Americans, many of whom vented their frustrations on dealings with health insurance companies. Some voiced their support for Mr. Mangione and rooted for him to elude capture.

But on Tuesday, prosecutors said that Mr. Mangione’s actions were meant to further terrorism. They were, prosecutors said, “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population” and to “affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder.”

Mr. Mangione, 26, also faces two counts of second-degree murder and weapons charges in New York in the killing of Mr. Thompson.

A lawyer for Mr. Mangione, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, declined to comment on the new charges on Tuesday.

Mr. Bragg said that they were in response to the “brazen, targeted and premeditated shooting,” adding that he couldn’t think of another office “more equipped to handle a terrorism charge.”

If convicted on the highest charges, Mr. Mangione faces a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Brian Thompson Denied Claims Till His Own Claim Got Permanently Adjusted....,

Newsweek |  Wanted posters for healthcare executives have started appearing across New York City following the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week.

Thompson, 50, was en route to speak at UnitedHealth Group's investor conference at the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan last Wednesday when he was fatally shot. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that Thompson was struck at least once in the back and once in the right calf.

Police arrested a suspect, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, on Monday in connection with the shooting, charging him with second-degree murder. No motive for the shooting has been established, but a handwritten manifesto purportedly found with Mangione at the time of his arrest indicates that Thompson's killing may have been motivated by anger about the health insurance industry, with the suspect allegedly justifying the homicide by writing: "The parasites had it coming."

Following the shooting, videos shared on social media showed "wanted" signs featuring Thompson and other healthcare corporate leaders plastered across traffic control boxes in Canal Street in Manhattan.

One video showed a poster with a red X over Thompson's image. Other posters featured images of Heather Cianfrocco, Optum Health's CEO, and and UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty. 

UnitedHealth Group is the parent company of UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Videos showed the posters featured the words: "Wanted. Denying medical care for corporate profit. 

Health care CEOs should not feel safe." "UnitedHealthcare killed everyday people for the sake of profit. As a result Brian Thompson was denied his claim to life. Who will be denied next?" they continue.

The Claims Adjuster Too Good Looking - No More Pictures Of The Folk Hero...,

timesofindia  |  Mangione’s actions, punctuated by symbolic gestures like inscribed bullet casings and a manifesto railing against corporate greed, were designed to convey a broader message.

While Mangione’s methods were criminal, the public response has included elements of celebration. Social media platforms have amplified anti-corporate sentiment, with many framing the act as retribution against a predatory system. Tweets like, “When you deny care, karma doesn’t require pre-authorization,” illustrate how personal grievances with healthcare have transformed Mangione into a symbolic figure of resistance.

Following his arrest, an unexpected wave of support for Mangione surfaced online. Merchandise celebrating him appeared on various platforms, and social media users began crafting narratives that portrayed him as a modern-day Robin Hood figure—someone who stood up against powerful corporate entities.

According to a report in Politico, This celebratory reaction, rooted in collective frustration with the US healthcare system, aligns remarkably with Eric Hobsbawm's theory of "social banditry." Thompson’s death is not merely viewed as a crime but as a symbolic strike against a system perceived as exploitative and oppressive.

Message over murder: Reports indicate that bullet casings at the scene were inscribed with words like “deny,” “defend,” and “depose,” echoing criticisms of the insurance industry’s claim practices. This performative element suggests an intent to convey a broader critique of systemic injustices rather than personal grievance alone.

Resonance with public sentiment: Social media erupted with posts framing Mangione as a vigilante hero. Tweets like, “Finally, someone stood up to the corporate thieves!” and memes mocking the healthcare system’s shortcomings went viral, illustrating how his actions tapped into collective anger.

A Manifesto of frustration: The discovery of a manifesto carried by Mangione seems to support the idea that his actions were driven by frustration with the complex, costly, and often dysfunctional US health care system. "I had an opportunity to read the manifesto," said Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny of the New York Police Department on Good Morning America. "It's handwritten. He does make some indication that he's frustrated with the health care system in the United States."

Social media as modern balladry

• In traditional contexts, tales of social bandits were spread through songs, stories, and legends that framed them as defenders of the downtrodden. In today’s digital era, social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok serve as the new ballads, amplifying narratives and shaping public perceptions.
• Memes and merchandise: Posts satirizing the healthcare industry, such as “karma doesn’t require pre-authorization,” gained widespread traction. These digital artifacts serve to humanize Mangione while vilifying the healthcare system.
• Merchandise featuring slogans like "FREE LUIGI" and "CEO Hunter" exemplifies this shift in perception. Supporters view him not just as an individual who committed a violent act but as a symbol of resistance against what they perceive as systemic failures within the healthcare industr
• Echo chambers of support: Platforms foster communities where anti-corporate sentiments are amplified, reinforcing the narrative of Mangione as a folk hero. This environment has not only mythologized Mangione but also deepened the public’s antagonism toward corporate America.
• Normalization of violence: The celebration of Mangione raises ethical concerns about the normalization of violence as a tool for addressing systemic grievances. While his supporters argue that his actions highlight legitimate frustrations, endorsing murder as a form of protest risks legitimizing further radical acts.
• Risk of copycat behavior: The glorification of Mangione could inspire others to engage in similar acts of defiance. The New York Police Department has already issued warnings about heightened threats against corporate executives, and online forums have discussed creating “hit lists” of other high-profile figures in the healthcare industry.

Understand What United Healthcare Is....,

Remember Remember The 4th Of December...,

 

Besides Teaching You How To Break In And Run A Suppressor On Your EDC - How Can I Assist?

 NYTimes  |  A grainy image of his face drew comparisons to Hollywood heartthrobs. A jacket similar to the one he’s wearing on wanted posters is reportedly flying off the shelves. And the words written on the bullets he used to kill a man in cold blood on a sidewalk on Wednesday have become, for some people, a rallying cry.

Three days after a gunman assassinated a top health insurance executive in Midtown Manhattan and vanished, the unidentified suspect has, in some quarters, been venerated as something approaching a folk hero.

The authorities have pleaded for help from the public to find the person who killed the UnitedHealthcare executive, Brian Thompson, who was a husband and father of two children. But in a macabre turn, some people seem to be more interested in rooting for the gunman and thwarting the police’s efforts.

The Upper West Side hostel where officials believe the unknown man stayed during his time in the city has reportedly received a deluge of bad reviews online, with some people calling the workers there “narcs.” The business has been cooperating with the police.

 

And while high-profile crimes have in recent years mobilized internet sleuths hellbent on finding answers, civilian efforts to find Mr. Thompson’s killer have appeared muted. Instead, the executive’s killing has released a tide of online frustration toward the health insurance industry, with some people even voicing their support for the gunman.

 

It is unclear what motivated the killing or whether it was tied to Mr. Thompson’s work in the industry. The police have yet to identify the shooter, and he remained at large as of Saturday.

 

The killing, which occurred at around 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, just outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel, incited an immediate citywide manhunt by law enforcement. Police officials have said that their assumption is that the gunman left the city by bus about an hour after he shot Mr. Thompson because they have video of him entering a bus depot but not leaving it.

One A Week Sound About Right?

United CEO Andrew Witty gave an address to the company today (video leaked to me). Some highlights:
- "we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care."
- "There are very few people in the history of the US healthcare industry who had a bigger… pic.twitter.com/7ihMkHAcia

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) December 6, 2024

thedailybeast  |  UnitedHealth Group’s CEO slammed health insurance industry critics on social media as “vitriolic” and “not in tune with reality” as it is battered by anger in the wake of insurance CEO Brian Thompson’s murder.

Andrew Witty, Thompson’s boss, did not make the comments to the public but in a private video to company staff. He has not spoken publicly since the assassination-style murder outside a Manhattan hotel early Wednesday morning.

Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein initially posted a shortened clip of Witty’s comments to his Substack amid an avalanche of people attacking the health insurance industry on social platforms. He followed up with the full almost three-minute long address Witty gave to staff at UnitedHealth.

Witty, clearly reading from a script and dressed casually, defended his industry against accusations it refuses people vital coverage saying “we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or unnecessary care.”

His extended complaint started by claiming the company puts “patients, consumers and members first, as we always have done,” claiming its mission was to improve their experience–and that Thompson left a legacy of doing that.

“I have never been more proud of this company and our colleagues and what this company does on behalf of people in need across this country,” he said.

He urged them to “tune out that critical noise that we’re hearing right now,” adding, “It does not reflect reality. It is simply a sign of an era in which we live.

“What we must know is focus on what we know to be true. And what we know to be true is that we need a company like UnitedHealth Group and it needs people like Brian within it.”

Witty, a British former pharma executive who is known as Sir Andrew Witty in the UK after being given a knighthood by the late Queen Elizabeth, is facing a Department of Justice probe into insider trading allegations. His last fully calculated compensation package in 2023 was $25 million. The company denies wrongdoing.

“I’d like to give you a little bit of advice around the media,” said Witty. “My strong advice and request to everybody is just don’t engage with the media. If you’re approached, I would recommend not responding and, if necessary, simply refer them to our own media organization.”

Witty added, “You’ve seen a lot of media interest in this situation with a huge amount of misinformation and frankly offensive communication,” calling the coverage “aggressive, inappropriate and disrespectful.”

Representatives for UnitedHealth Group and its health insurance division, UnitedHealthcare—which Thompson led—did not immediately respond to a Daily Beast request for comment on the leaked video.

On the heels of Thompson’s death and the ensuing hunt for his assassin, the company removed his bio from a page that once listed UnitedHealth’s leadership. Now it goes to a broken link.

Thompson was shot dead outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday. He was due to address an investors’ conference for his company, which is one of the largest health insurers in the world. The killer, who experts have suggested is not a professional hitman, fled on an electric bike and remains at large.