Trump’s Health Secretary Azar played DOWN threat of coronavirus, whistleblower scientist claims
A TOP government scientist said Health Secretary Alex Azar downplayed the coronavirus threat in an explosive whistleblower complaint.
Dr Rick Bright blamed Azar for the response delay and said he was ousted for pushing back on using the to treat , according to his bombshell claim.
of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) told reporters Trump officials downplayed the severity of the deadly bug whilst promoting the untested malaria drug.
His complaint filed with the Office of Special Counsel states that when Bright pushed back against officials wanting to "flood" hard-hit areas like with hydroxychloroquine, he was downgraded to a lesser role.
Bright said he "encountered resistance from HHS leadership, including Health and Human Services Secretary [Alex] Azar, who appeared intent on downplaying this "
The whistleblower complaint emerged as:
- The US death toll tops 71,000 as some states prepare to reopen
- Coronavirus Task Force members are
- Trump confirms the in coming weeks
- The president acknowledges as lockdowns lift
- Americans may abroad until 2021
- Experts predict after phased reopening
The whistleblower complaint also detailed a February 23 meeting with Azar and Bright's boss, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Robert Kadlec, who "responded with surprise at [Bright's] dire predictions and urgency, and asserted that the United States would be able to contain the virus and keep it out."
"I witnessed government leadership rushing blindly into a potentially by bringing in a non-FDA approved chloroquine from and , from facilities that had never been approved by the FDA," Bright told journalists on Tuesday.
"Their eagerness to push blindly forward without sufficient data to put this drug into the hands of Americans was alarming to me and my fellow scientists.
"Time after time I was pressured to ignore or dismiss expert scientific recommendations and instead to award lucrative contracts based on political connections.
"In other words, I was pressured to let politics and cronyism drive decisions over the opinions of the best scientists we have in government."
Bright is set to testify at a hearing next week and his lawyers said his removal from the director post is a violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act.
In response to the allegations, HHS Spokesperson Caitlin Oakley told The Sun: “Dr. Bright was transferred to NIH to work on diagnostics testing – critical to combatting COVID-19 – where he has been entrusted to spend upwards of $1 billion to advance that effort.
"We are deeply disappointed that he has not shown up to work on behalf of the American people and lead on this critical endeavor.”
Trump has repeatedly touted his travel ban on China as an early mitigation response but Bright claims the Feds missed the chance to stockpile supplies quicker because they downplayed .
However, Bright acknowledged that White House trade adviser Peter Navarro - who authored several urgent memos about the crisis - was extremely disturbed by the news, unlike his colleagues.
Bright described working with Navarro to set up military transport from Italy for swabs needed in the US, according to the shocking complaint.
When Bright was contacted by a in January, the scientist claims he was rebuffed by his HHS colleagues.
"HHS publicly represented not only that COVID-19 was not an imminent threat, but also that HHS already had all the masks it would need," his complaint read.
But he was also concerned about the drug the FDA warned doctors about prescribing last month.
However, the HHS highlighted that Bright requested an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA for donations of chloroquine, which were added to the National Stockpile for use on COVID patients.
Last month, Trump revealed the US had bought a "tremendous amount" of hydroxychloroquine and about its effectiveness.
"It can help them but it’s not going to hurt them," Trump told reporters during an April 5 coronavirus briefing, after revealing the government purchased 29 million doses.
at the time indicated that and Navarro were at loggerheads over the drug behind closed doors, with the top doc saying it was unproven and based on "anecdotal" evidence.
Regulators have since flagged reports of sometimes fatal heart side effects among COVID patients who take hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine.
But Bright felt he had not been listened to when he voiced his concern about the untested treatment.
"As the death toll mounted exponentially each day, Dr Bright concluded that he had a moral obligation to the American public, including those vulnerable as a result of illness from COVID-19, to protect it from drugs which he believed constituted a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety," the complaint continued.
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Trump has repeatedly shifted the blame onto the (WHO), however.
The president maintained the global organization helped China to cover up the extent of the crisis and thwarted early intervention in the crisis by silencing whistleblowers and destroyed evidence.
He has not refuted reports that the , despite the claims being debunked by Fauci this week.