Science Committee Subpoenas Tech Officer on Healthcare.gov Security Flaws

The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee has subpoenaed former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park to compel his testimony about security lapses on Healthcare.gov.

“The Obama administration has failed to provide this Committee with information about the security of the Obamacare website. What is the White House trying to hide?” said Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas).

Smith noted July reports about a hacker getting into Healthcare.gov, adding “we don’t know how many other security breaches have gone unreported.”

Park has refused to testify before the committee on five occasion, committee staff said, and was scheduled to give a briefing to members of the Oversight Subcommittee on Sept. 10 before it was canceled by the White House, who wanted the briefing off-the-record.

The committee majority released a 59-page report today that weighed emails versus what Park has said he knew about security flaws before the website’s launch. “It is difficult to reconcile Mr. Park’s statements under oath with the emails received thus far from HHS regarding his involvement with HealthCare.gov,” the report said.

Park was co-chairman of the White House’s Affordable Care Act Information Technology Exchanges Steering Committee overseeing site security during development.

“The American people deserve to know their personal information on HealthCare.gov is absolutely secure,” Smith said.

The subpoena is for Nov. 19.

“Despite the Obama Administration’s attempts to stonewall this Committee from obtaining information on the security failures of healthcare.gov – we will not stop working until we get answers that the American people deserve,” Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Paul Broun (R-Ga.) said in a statement. “Reports of a recent successful hack of the website provide us with further reason of the need to obtain this important information so that we can protect the American people from future cyber security attacks.”

“It is my hope that with this subpoena – we can get to the bottom of the abject failures of HealthCare.gov and ensure these security breaches do not occur again.”