“I believe Americans need to be told the truth,” Bright testified in a hastily convened House subcommittee hearing — armed with a canister of Lysol wipes and seated next to an attorney. “And I believe that the best scientific advice and guidance was not being conveyed to the American public” in the early days of the pandemic.

Bright’s quotes could easily end up in campaign ads or attacks from Joe Biden, which is why Trump has tried to portray Bright as a disgruntled outgoing employee.

Bright — who alleges that he was abruptly removed as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority in April because he opposed political pressures linked to malaria drugs — is the first official to actively undermine the president’s claims that the administration has done a “great job” handling the response.

“By not telling America the truth … people were not as prepared as they could have been and should have been,” Bright testified. “We did not forewarn people. We did not train people. We did not educate them on social distancing and wearing a mask as we should have in January and February.”

Bright also testified that he and his team faced pressure from political appointees after President Donald Trump in March began touting malaria drugs like hydroxychloroquine not proven to treat Covid-19, despite scant evidence and at the urging of his allies.

Administration: Bright’s claims tell only part of the story

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump again reiterated his claim that Bright was a "disgruntled" employee.

“Everything he is complaining about was achieved,” added HHS Secretary Alex Azar.

Bright was transferred to a new position to work on Covid-19 diagnostics at the National Institutes of Health but has yet to report for the role.

Inside the administration, officials also were frustrated with Democrats’ reliance on Bright’s testimony, saying the hastily convened hearing did not allow time for a full investigation into Bright’s whistleblower complaint, which was filed on May 5.

For instance, Democrats on Thursday widely criticized HHS for declining to act on Bright’s urging to purchase masks from Mike Bowen, an executive at Texas-based Prestige Ameritech. But one current and one former official said that the administration eventually determined that the opportunity was not appropriate, adding that there was context missing from Bright’s testimony about why the U.S. government passed on the offer.

“My government strategy is to help the U.S. government if, and only if, the VA and DoD become my customers after this thing is over,” Bowen said in an e-mail to Bright on Jan. 31, which Bright subsequently shared with HHS officials and was obtained by POLITICO. Bowen is set to testify before the House panel on Thursday afternoon.

Lawmakers focus in on malaria drugs

Both Democrats and Republicans closely questioned Bright over the administration’s extreme efforts to obtain chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, the malaria medicines touted by the president as potential coronavirus treatments despite scant evidence that they worked. HHS’ top lawyer was closely involved in a plan to acquire the drugs, according to emails released by Bright. He said that his team faced other pressures after Trump publicly extolled the medicines at White House press briefings.

“Did the president’s obsession with this issue distract you and others on your team from your mission of saving lives?” asked Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico).

The focus on the malaria drugs was “extremely distracting” for health officials, Bright responded. “It distracted from their efforts at developing other vaccines and drugs.”

Republicans, meanwhile, argued that anecdotal evidence supported the drugs’ use, given that there was no other known treatment for coronavirus when Bright requested to add millions of the pills to the strategic national stockpile in March.

"I think that’s really what we're going to have to do in an emergency situation, am I not correct?" said Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) "Can we be so careful that we actually kill people?"

Rep. Larry Bucshon, a doctor from Indiana, also lamented the skepticism around hydroxychloroquine. "Doctors across the country will use drugs off label in a circumstance where they don’t see a viable alternative to that," he said.

Bright repeatedly told lawmakers that he was concerned about side effects from the drugs, including potentially fatal heart problems, and that there is no clear evidence that the medications work against Covid-19. The first data from a randomized controlled clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine is expected within a week.

Meanwhile, Trump has scarcely mentioned the drugs in more than three weeks; recent data suggest they may have no benefit at all.

Democrats use Bright as avatar of frustrations with Trump

In his testimony, Bright underscored the need to move fast to curb a worsening crisis. "Our window of opportunity is closing,” he said. “If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities.”

Democrats seized on the remarks as they sought to build a referendum for the Trump administration’s failings on handling the Covid-19 outbreak.

Rep. Peter Welch laid out a timeline of repeated warnings from Bright and other officials, including FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, that he said top HHS and White House officials ignored. “You and others were seeing over the horizon what was coming to our shores,” said the Vermont Democrat.

Bright also was asked about the work of the White House’s coronavirus task force and whether there was appropriate coordination to stave off future challenges.

“Has the coronavirus task force actually developed a plan for reopening the country?” asked Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.).

“I’m not aware of the full plan to reopen, sir,” Bright said.

“We have major challenges going forward to making sure we get through this as safely and as effectively as we can,” Kennedy told POLITICO after leaving the hearing. “There’s nothing coming out of that hearing that gives me any more confidence that the administration has given any more thought to actually do that.”

Inside HHS, exasperation over Bright's testimony

The Health and Human Services department hit back with a lengthy rebuttal minutes into the hearing.

In a document entitled “claims vs. reality,” the health department challenged nearly twenty allegations, including Bright’s central claim that he was ousted for warning about widespread use of the unproven malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19, which President Donald Trump publicly touted across March and into April, despite scant evidence.

For instance, HHS said that Bright had “praised the members of his team for their work to acquire chloroquine on multiple occasions” and also had worked to acquire hydroxychloroquine from Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Bright conceded in his testimony that he didn't take his concerns to the HHS inspector general. The ousted vaccine expert also acknowledged that he was not privy to the full efforts underway by the federal government to fight the outbreak, such as plans to acquire personal protective equipment.

The Office of Special Counsel, which is investigating Bright's complaint, last week recommended that he be temporarily reinstated to his BARDA role until his complaint is resolved. The office said it found "reasonable grounds to believe" that the administration retaliated against Bright.

The Trump administration did not send any witnesses to testify at the hearing.