House Committee on Trump's Covid Pressure on FDA

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis has issued its second report, documenting three instances in which Trump White House officials “executed coordinated pressure campaigns that sought to bend FDA’s coronavirus decision making to the White House’s political will.” The report documents evidence it says committee staff uncovered revealing:

• how the Trump White House exerted extreme and inappropriate pressure on FDA to reauthorize hydroxychloroquine after it was shown to be ineffective and potentially dangerous;
• strongarmed FDA to deliver misleadingly positive news about convalescent plasma as a coronavirus treatment on the eve of the 2020 Republican National Convention; and
• blocked FDA from issuing guidance on coronavirus vaccine authorizations for weeks in an attempt to ensure that the first vaccine could be authorized before the 2020 presidential election.