The health department's communications aides, that have been politically appointed, have asked for the right to re-evaluate and suggest changes to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) weekly scientific reports that map out the coronavirus pandemic progress. The officials described the demand as an attempt to intimidate authors of the reports, and reduce their communication to health professionals.
In some cases, emails from communications aides to some senior officials including Redfield openly complained that the CDC's reports would hurt Donald Trump's attempts to convey optimistic messages about the still-raging pandemic, according to three people familiar with the situation, and emails obtained and reviewed by POLITICO.
CDC officials have objected to the most comprehensive changes, but have agreed to let political officials review the reports and, in some cases, adjusted the wording, according to three people familiar with the exchanges. The communications aides’ focus on changing the language in the agency’s reports has been constant throughout the summer with the latest changes made on Friday.
The CDC's MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) are drafted by career scientists and is the main channel the agency uses to inform researchers, doctors, and even the general public about how the pandemic is spreading and who is at risk. These types of reports have been published without any sort of political interference until now, several longtime health department officials said.
Moreover, the health department officials also said these reports have been touted as the cornerstone of America's public health work for decades. Since former Trump campaign official Michael Caputo, who has no medical or scientific background, was installed in April, the health department's new spokesperson, there has been a noteworthy attempt to align the reports with Trump's statements, including his claims that fears surrounding the outbreak were overstated.
Caputo, along with his team, has tried adding forewarnings to the CDC's findings, including their attempt to change agency reports that they suggest exaggerated the risks of COVID-19 and should have been made clear that people sickened by the virus may have contracted it because of their own behavior. This piece of information was revealed by the people familiar with the situation.
Aside from that, Caputo's team tried to stop the release of some CDC reports, including a report that addressed how doctors were prescribing the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, touted by Trump as a coronavirus treatment despite the lack of evidence. Caputo’s team held the report for about a month, raising questions about its authors’ political leanings, but it was published last week.