Former US president Donald Trump's administration prevented health officials from providing accurate information about Covid-19 in a bid to back up his overly optimistic view of the outbreak, according to a congressional report released Monday.
In this file photo taken on February 26, 2022 former US President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference 2022 in Orlando, Florida. – Lawmakers probing the 2021 attack on the US Capitol voted on October 13, 2022 to subpoena former president Donald Trump to testify on his role in the violence, in a major escalation of the sprawling inquiry weeks before it is due to wind up.
Officials took “unprecedented steps to insert political appointees into the publication process and rebut CDC’s scientific reports, including drafting op-eds and other public messaging designed to directly counteract CDC’s findings,” the report said. Trump appointees had sought to “alter the contents, rebut, or delay the release” of 18 MMWRs and a health alert, succeeding on at least five occasions.
“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, which undermined public health to benefit the former president’s political goals,” panel chairman Jim Clyburn, a Democrat, said in a statement.