HHS

WINSTON SALEM, NC - SEPTEMBER 08: President Donald Trump addresses a crowd during a campaign rally at Smith Reynolds Airport on September 8, 2020 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. The president also made a campaign stop in South Florida on Tuesday. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images) Trump Claims He Called CDC Director To Correct Him On COVID Vaccine Timeline
Biden: No Trust For Trump On COVID-19 Vaccine
Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo arrives to testify before the House Intelligence Committee during a closed-door session at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center July 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. Caputo resigned from being a Trump campaign communications advisor after appearing to celebrate the firing of former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Denying any contact with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign, Caputo did live in Moscow during the 1990s, served as an adviser to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and did pro-Putin public relations work for the Russian conglomerate Gazprom Media. Where Things Stand: Both Barr And Caputo Hype Sedition, But Only One Is Leaving Prime Badge
This is your TPM afternoon briefing.

Michael Caputo, the longtime Trump hype man and HHS official, is taking a leave of absence from the Department of Health and Human Services.

This follows a tumultuous few days in which reports surfaced showing Caputo and one of his close aides at HHS were involved in a scheme to pressure the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into cooking the books on COVID-19 reporting data to more closely adhere to President Trump’s rosy rhetoric on the pandemic.

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BREAKING: Trump Shill At HHS Outlives His Usefulness
Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo arrives to testify before the House Intelligence Committee during a closed-door session at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center July 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. Caputo resigned from being a Trump campaign communications advisor after appearing to celebrate the firing of former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Denying any contact with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign, Caputo did live in Moscow during the 1990s, served as an adviser to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and did pro-Putin public relations work for the Russian conglomerate Gazprom Media. Caputo Holds Emergency Meeting, Weighs Medical Leave After Attacks On ‘Seditious’ CDC Scientists
UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 10: Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., talks with reporters during a procedural Senate vote on a coronavirus relief bill in the Capitol on Thursday, September 10, 2020. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) Schumer Demands Azar Resign For Failing To Address ‘Chaos’ In HHS
on May 1, 2018 in Washington, DC. Dem Sen Demands Caputo Resignation After He Reportedly Accused Scientists Of ‘Sedition’
‘Disastrous’: Why It’s So Damaging For Trump Admin To Doctor The CDC’s COVID Reports
on May 1, 2018 in Washington, DC. Report: Caputo Accuses Scientists Of ‘Sedition,’ Warns Of Leftist Revolt
Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo arrives to testify before the House Intelligence Committee during a closed-door session at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center July 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. Caputo resigned from being a Trump campaign communications advisor after appearing to celebrate the firing of former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Denying any contact with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign, Caputo did live in Moscow during the 1990s, served as an adviser to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and did pro-Putin public relations work for the Russian conglomerate Gazprom Media. Where Things Stand: Caputo’s Having A Normal One Prime Badge
This is your TPM afternoon briefing.

We reported on the news this weekend after Politico published a piece based on emails it had obtained from the Department of Health and Human Services. Essentially, for weeks, HHS public affairs chief Michael Caputo (and former member of the 2016 Trump campaign), along with his scientific adviser, pressured the CDC to change its reports on COVID-19 spread and case data from across the U.S.

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