Paul demands probe into Gruber’s O-Care salary

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is demanding an investigation into the taxpayer-funded fees paid to ObamaCare consultant Jonathan Gruber after a series of highly publicized comments the senator called a “disgrace.”

“He was paid, and now he’s admitted that he was deceptive and deceitful,” Paul said in an interview on Fox News on Monday night.

Paul said he would request an official investigation into public funds paid to Gruber for consultant work, pegged at upwards of $6 million among multiple states and several federal agencies.

{mosads}”Who was sort of organizing this for him? Is this some sort of thing that happened within government? Was he just able to market himself everywhere, or was this all coming in some sort of organized way to enrich Obama consultants?” Paul asked.

Paul joined others on the right, such as Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), in suggesting Gruber return the money.

“How can we pay someone to be a consultant to government who’s frankly admitting that they were dishonest?” Paul added.

Conservatives have jumped at a series of comments from academic lectures made by Gruber, an MIT economist who advised on ObamaCare and the Massachusetts healthcare law.

Gruber is seen on video citing a “lack of transparency” and “the stupidity of the American voter” as important factors in passing the Affordable Care Act.

He also said the federal bill was written in a “tortured way to make sure the [Congressional Budget Office] did not score the mandate as taxes,” acknowledging that proponents worked to spin penalties from the law’s individual mandate as fines, not taxes.

After his comments were publicized, Gruber apologized on MSNBC, saying his remarks were “off the cuff.”

President Obama and key Democrats have sought to distant themselves from the adviser, who has received intense backlash, including from Democrats.

“This is a disgrace,” Paul said.