Investigation reveals Trump tried to block accurate information on COVID-19

The administration of the former US president donald trump prevented health officials from providing accurate information about the COVID-19 in an attempt to back up his rosy view of the outbreak, according to a congressional report released Monday.

Staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States told investigators that White House workers intimidated staff and tried to rewrite their reports.

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The officials took “unprecedented measures” to get Trump emissaries to participate in the “publication and refute the scientific reports of the CDCincluding the writing of opinion pieces and other public messages designed to directly counter the findings of the CDC”said the report.

The researchers interviewed a dozen current and former officials from the CDCas well as senior administration figures to put together the 91-page document published by the select subcommittee of the House of Representatives on the coronavirus crisis.

The panel describes how those appointed by Trump at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) tried to seize the weekly science journal from the CDCthe Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), editing or blocking articles they believed were harmful to Trump.

Trump’s emissaries tried to “alter the content, refute or delay the publication” of 18 numbers of the MMWR and a health alert, achieving it on at least five occasions.

The report quotes a communications official from the CDC who complained that an ally of Trump at HHS had used a “intimidating behavior”. This attitude caused CDC officials “They felt threatened.”

Jay Butlerdeputy director of infectious diseases of the CDCsaid he was asked not to make any further reports after his statements were deemed “too alarming” dfrom the White House.

“The select subcommittee’s investigation has shown that the previous administration engaged in an unprecedented campaign of political interference in the federal government’s pandemic response, undermining public health to further the political goals of the former president.”said the chairman of the panel, the Democrat Jim Clyburnit’s a statement.

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“As today’s report shows, President Trump and his top advisers repeatedly attacked CDC scientists, compromised the agency’s public health guidance, and suppressed scientific reporting in an effort to downplay the severity of the coronavirus.”

Republicans rejected this report as partisan and have vowed to conduct their own investigation if they win back the House or Senate in November’s midterm elections.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.