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Crescendo

Michael R. Caputo, a Republican political strategist and media consultant, enjoys a cup of coffee as he prepares for his testimony before the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as part of ... Michael R. Caputo, a Republican political strategist and media consultant, enjoys a cup of coffee as he prepares for his testimony before the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as part of their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, at the home of a long-time friend in McLean, Virginia on Friday, July 14, 2017. Credit: Ron Sachs / CNP - NO WIRE SERVICE - Photo by: Ron Sachs/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images MORE LESS

By Josh Marshall

September 12, 2020 11:39 a.m.

THE BACKCHANNEL

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Michael Caputo is a career Republican political operative with no medical expertise beyond an annual physical. He is best known as being an associate of convicted felon Roger Stone, with his own lengthy history working in Russia and as a suspect in the Russia probe. Trump installed Caputo as the acting director of communications for the Department of Health and Human Services in April. We learned yesterday that he demanded and received the right to review and amend the CDC’s weekly mortality and morbidity reports, which are among the canonical public health and scientific reports of the US government, in order to make sure they don’t depart from President Trump’s COVID messaging.

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