In response to the announcement that HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Michael Caputo would take a 60 day medical leave, Protect Our Care’s Chairman and former top HHS official Leslie Dach released the following statement:
“Assistant Secretary Michael Caputo and Paul Alexander’s departures from HHS are a necessary step to restoring independence to the most crucial public health agencies that the American people are relying on, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“For months, Donald Trump, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, and countless others in his administration have doggedly tried to strongarm these agencies to conform to Donald Trump’s political goals. Whether manipulating CDC reports, mocking the simplest mitigation efforts like masks, or blatantly lying to the American people, all of these actions serve one purpose: to downplay the severity of the crisis in order to boost Trump’s image and hide his failure to contain the virus.
“Caputo and Alexander were just the muscle to help make it happen. Everyone involved in the undermining of these independent agencies should be held accountable and Secretary Azar should resign.
“However, faith in America’s public health network can only be restored when Donald Trump ceases to put politics ahead of the health and safety of the American people and stops trying to bully our independent agencies.”