Senate Proposes Task Force To Investigate Trump COVID Interference

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When Donald Trump was first elected president, the fear was that he was too inexperienced, too incompetent, and too selfish to handle a serious emergency facing the American people. Although no one could have predicted the COVID-19 pandemic, it has certainly proven all those fears to be warranted.

Now that it’s been made public that Trump’s Health and Human Services Department has changed numbers to help Trump save face ahead of an election and even the Centers for Disease Control have dragged their feet on acknowledging what scientists have said from the beginning about the virus being airborne and easily transmitted, Senate Democrats have introduced legislation around forming a committee to review the Trump administration’s politicization of one of the worst pandemics in American history.

POLITICO reports that:

‘Legislation introduced Tuesday would create a task force within the Pandemic Response and Accountability Committee — an independent body created by the CARES Act — to investigate what Democrats argue are clear examples of the Trump administration impeding scientific work by agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.’

The point of the committee is to hold the Trump administration accountable for the lies they’ve told that have so far led to the deaths of more than 200,000 Americans and to try to bring some transparency to the coronavirus response. It is legislation unlikely to be taken up in Mitch McConnell’s senate, but is sorely needed.

‘The bill instructs the task force to examine communications between the White House, HHS and other health agencies. The bill also directs the body to review initial, subsequent and final drafts of scientific publications and communications to be investigated “to assess changes made … as a result of political interference.” If the task force runs into issues obtaining information, it is instructed to notify Congress.

‘“America will not defeat this virus if people do not have confidence that treatments, vaccines and guidance are approved with only public health goals in mind,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is the sponsor of the bill, said in a statement.’

https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/1308385029417062401

With just 42 days left before the 2020 presidential election, there is still much that voters should know about their president and those in charge of their government in their handling of this global crisis. Most importantly, what voters and all Americans needs is the truth about this devastating threat to the country.

‘The task force would report its findings to congressional committees with jurisdiction over various health agencies. Those panels would have the authority to release the reports to the public. The task force would also be allowed to release information “it deems is in the public interest and may be important to public safety.”

‘“It is painfully clear that the Trump Administration won’t stop the political interference which is threatening our response to this pandemic and putting lives in jeopardy on its own, so it is up to Congress to act,” Senate HELP Committee ranking member Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who is a bill cosponsor, said in a statement.’