Democrats to probe whether officials meddled with CDC data

 A House subcommittee examining President Donald Trump’s response to coronavirus pandemic is launching an investigation into reports that political appointees have meddled with routine government scientific data to better align with Trump’s public statements.

Democrat-led subcommittee said Monday that it is requesting transcribed interviews with seven officials from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Health and Human Services, including communications aide Michael Caputo. Caputo has often publicly pushed back on CDC statements about coronavirus and said falsely in a Facebook video on Sunday that CDC has a “resistance unit” to undermine Trump, according to New York Times. His p has since been me private.

According to a report in Politico, Caputo, along with scientific viser Paul Alexander, pressured officials to alter CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, a long-running weekly journal that features latest science-based research and data on infectious diseases. Kwn as MMWR, report has long been a sacred government information resource for doctors, scientists and researchers tracking outbreaks.

officials pressured CDC to change reports, at times retroactively, to better align m with Trump’s often rosier public statements about coronavirus, Politico reported.

In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and CDC Director Robert Redfield, Democratic members of subcommittee said y are “gravely concerned” about reports of political meddling in a journal that has long been free of political interference.

“With nearly 200,000 Americans killed and hundreds more dying each day from coronavirus pandemic, public needs and deserves truthful scientific information so y can keep mselves and ir families healthy,” Democrats wrote.

panel is also demanding documents from department, including communications sent or received by Redfield, Azar, Caputo and Alexander regarding MMWR and or matters. HHS did t immediately respond to a request for comment on letter.

According to Politico, Caputo and Alexander complained about a report that explained children can transmit coronavirus and Alexander asked CDC to alter it or pull it down, saying report could impact school reopening and hurt Trump politically.

In Facebook Live video, reported by New York Times, Caputo warned that left-wing hit squs would eng in armed insurrection after election and said officials were engaging in “sedition” as y handled pandemic. “You understand that y’re going to have to kill me, and unfortunately, I think that’s where this is going,” Caputo said, according to Times.

Caputo is a longtime friend and fierce defender of Trump who worked on his presidential campaign.