House Judiciary panel wants former Trump refugee director to clarify testimony

House lawmakers are seeking clarification from the former head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) on portions of public testimony he gave last month about tracking the pregnancies and menstrual cycles of young women in the care of his former office.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on Friday sent a letter to Scott Lloyd asking him to clarify comments he made during his testimony in February.

“We were troubled by your responses at the time — but we now have reason to believe that your responses are inconsistent with documentation that has been made public since your testimony,” Nadler wrote.{mosads}

Lloyd was repeatedly asked by Judiciary Committee members about reports that he had used spreadsheets to track how far along unaccompanied girls were in their pregnancies, as well as whether he specifically monitored their menstrual cycles.

Lloyd tried to dodge the questions, but ultimately denied that he tracked menstrual cycles of girls and women in his custody.

Since his testimony, Democratic-aligned outside groups Equity Forward and American Bridge released internal documents and communications that showed Lloyd was tracking pregnancies and receiving updates on the menstrual cycles of the young migrant girls in custody.

“In that document, at your direction, ORR appears to have been tracking deeply personal information about women aged 12 through 17 — including whether their pregnancy was a result of consensual sex, ‘gestational age,’ and the last known menstrual cycle of the women in your custody,” Nadler wrote.

A spokesperson for HHS told The Hill, “We have received the letter and will respond.”

The documents also showed Lloyd was seeking information on pregnant minors in HHS custody even before he was officially named to lead the refugee office.

As head of the HHS refugee office, Lloyd was responsible for overseeing the care and treatment of thousands of children who entered the country without parents, or were separated from their parents as part of the administration’s former zero tolerance policy.

Lloyd subsequently sought to block migrant girls in HHS custody from obtaining abortions, leading to a series of lawsuits.

Lloyd, who joined HHS in March 2017, was effectively removed from his post in November. He is now a senior adviser at the agency’s Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives.

In his testimony to the Judiciary Committee, Lloyd also denied that he personally visited pregnant minors to pressure them to continue their pregnancies.

However, a deposition showed that Lloyd acknowledged visiting at least one pregnant unaccompanied minor while she was in ORR custody. He also acknowledged speaking on the phone with at least one other pregnant unaccompanied minor in a call where the topic of abortion was discussed.